Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window Analysis

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. In this essay, I will discuss how the film is about film itself. The notions of gaze will also be analysed, through a discussion of voyeurism and Jeff and Lisa’s relationship.
This brilliant film about watching the neighbours simultaneously represents a self-reflexive film about the cinema and filmmaking. “[…] Jeff embodies the activity and passivity of both the film maker and the spectator; the director creates and waits, while the viewer

It also holds a message about ‘reality’. From time to time, we are all like Jeff, secretly intruding other people’s private lives, whether it be those of our neighbours or by watching a film. The Film also skilfully portrays the issue of male gaze. Lisa’s role in the film, though she is an independent and successful woman, still serves for the purposes of male gaze. Even though she was a willing active participant, Jeff’s interest in her sparked when she embraced his point of view, took part in his own “subjective narrative” and became an object of his