A Film Analysis Of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

The Character Evolution Of Jeff and the Realizations he Faces Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a film full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcock’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye initially sees when viewing this film, there is a fine line between understanding what is going on in the film and observing what the protagonist Jeff is viewing.

While watching Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock, I was able to notice two distinct themes throughout the film. These two themes are a quote about actions speaking louder than words and suspense. Hitchcock also had many different elements in his film to make it successful. My favorite element he used was sound with the radio in the background, street noise, and other ongoing conversations. One main theme that was shown through out the film was the quote “actions speak louder than words”.

The first way that Hitchcock makes his film more terrifying is through the lighting techniques he uses. The film starts off with Marion (the main protagonist) and Sam (boyfriend of Marion) in a hotel

Throughout the film “Rear Window,” Alfred Hitchcock uses a multitude of techniques to create and weave suspense into the plot. Throughout the film, viewers and characters are mostly aware that Mr. Thurwald is a shady person with a rocky relationship; there is no suspense about the actual murder, but the fact that they are living in the same complex as the murderer. One technique is through montages; to call attention to 1:35-1:42, or the break-in montage, the attention goes from Jeff to Jeff’s view, which shifts from the sleuthing woman to Miss Lonelyhearts, by the time he looks back to Lisa and Stella, Lisa is climbing into the apartment, then so on and so forth. Eyes are not always on the important moments, they shift with Jeff, so we get

The idea of similarities among all people, an underlying connection, is expressed by Hitchcock when Lisa in Rear Window argues with Jefferies, saying, “There can't be that much difference between people and the way they live! We all eat, talk, drink, laugh, sleep, wear clothes --“. When she says this, Lisa has a lamp light shining from the upper right side of the screen to indicate the truth of her argument. There is also an instance in Rear Window where the ability to understand a person sprouts empathy. Jefferies is sitting in the dark, after Lisa leaves angry, when the piano man comes home.

With Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock proved himself to be one of the best directors of suspense thrillers filled with mystery and humour. He himself called the film his most cinematic one because it was told only in visual terms (Morrow), but it was also a challenging “editing experiment” as the entire film was shot from one place, Jeff’s apartment that overlooked his backyard. The Film follows L.B. Jeffries “Jeff” (James Stewart), a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment after breaking his leg at work. He spends his days watching his neighbours and eventually suspects that one of them killed his wife. His caretaker, his girlfriend Lisa and his detective friend, at first unconvinced of his suspicion, eventually join him in his voyeurism and help him to solve the crime.

Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a fillm full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcok’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye anitially sees when viewing this film there is a fine line between understanding what is going on in the film and observing what the protagonist Jeff is viewing.

Alfred Hitchcock 's Rear Window explores the lives of those who feel isolated within society. The 1954 film, set in the tenements of Grenwich village, depicts those who are incapable of fitting into society 's expectations, as well as those who feel isolated from common interaction with others. Moreover, Hitchcock displays how its human nature to seek comfort and deeper connection even with those who are surrounded by others. Despite depicting characters as lonely, the progression of the film illustrates how individuals can be freed from isolation. The director asserts the loneliness and struggle that comes from fitting into social mores.

Rear Window Argues that people should mind their own business. Do you agree? Rear Window, a 1954 romance/murder-mystery by the renowned golden age director Alfred Hitchcock, is a film that explores a multitude of themes and genres through the voyeuristic gaze of protagonist L.B. Jefferies. Jefferies, or ‘Jeff’ as he commonly known throughout the film, is a middle-aged bachelor recently hospitalised due to his high-risk career as a photojournalist. This hindered condition serves as an important foundation on which the movie is built upon as Jeff’s forced lifestyle being in a wheelchair causes an abrupt stop in his usual high intensity way of life and causes him to quench his boredom in other ways, predominantly watching the other residents in his apartment complex through the ‘rear window’ of his apartment.

The prologue of Waltz into Darkness undermines any romantic illusions as the story itself begins, circa 1900, introducing us to a wealthy Cuban coffee planter named Luis Durand who anticipates the arrival of a mail order bride named Julia Russell (Jolie). Handsome and rich, he has never married ("Love is not for me. Love is for those people who believe in it"). His expectations for the bride are realistic: "She is not meant to be beautiful. She is meant to be kind, true and young enough to bear children."

Alfred Hitchcock is remembered as the "master of suspense", most notably in one of his cinemas, "Psycho". Hitchcock used a variety of sensory details, to shock moreover frighten his audience. Three sensory details that he used, is when we notice a cop following Marion, we see that Norman is stalking Marion, and when a shadowy figure shows up while Marion is taking a shower. The first sensory detail that creates suspense is when we see the cop following Marion. We believe that the cop recognizes something is up furthermore, is going to assert Marion for stealing the money.

Hitchcock’s Journal: Biographical Criticism of Hitchcock in His Films Vertigo (1958) and The Birds (1963) Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, England during the Edwardian Era. His parents, William and Emma Hitchcock, instilled the ideas of guilt and punishment into him from an early age. They were devout Catholics and sent their son to a strict religious boarding school.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window has several themes. One major theme is relationships. The lead character, Jeff Jeffries, a photographer and committed bachelor, is involved in a relationship with Lisa Fremont, a model, although the relationship has some tension due to Jeff’s lack of commitment. When Jeff is confined to his apartment recovering from a broken leg, he begins spying through his rear window on his neighbors in a nearby apartment. Through her frequent visits, Lisa is drawn into this spying as well.

Audiences of Hitchcock movies new to expect the unexpected when watching one of his films and he never failed to surprise audiences with his plot twists and unconventional storyline as well as his exclusion of stereotypical norms. This is demonstrated in Rear window as one of the main characters Jeffries (James Stewart) is seemingly disabled with a broken leg. Having this disability and being only a photographer audiences are initially positioned to see him as a helpless character, however, Hitchcock exceeds this expectation by making him become the hero of the film. Towards the end of the film Jefferies lures the killer through guilt and is confronted by him in his room, this scene is made much more impactful by Hitchcock’s effective use of techniques such as lighting, camera angles, sound effects and effectively positioning overrule earning Hitchcock the title of ‘the master of suspense’. These techniques can be seen in this clip from the scene.

These were explored by the use of the motifs of birds, eyes, hands and mirrors (Filmsite.org, n.d.). Hitchcock skilfully guides the audiences through a tale