Rear Window

For another Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rear Window, I'd have to say I was quite unimpressed, but at the same time I think that at some points, he had some of the best parts of a film from him out of all of the movies I have seen from him. I still haven't figured Hitchcock out completely; it is almost like there is just a key thing missing from me trying to figure out what his total point in all of his movies were. That is the one thing I hate about film - sometimes not being able to compare how I took and interpreted the movie to what the author created the movie in reference to. This seems to be a recurring theme for me in Hitchcock movies.

I think my dissapointment of a lot of the movie stemed from the beginning. I found the beginning to be very "out there" and boring. Rear Window's whole beginning segment is something I really wouldn't had thought to be Hitchcock's work if I hadn't known he directed this film. I didn't see much film technique being used and this hurt the help I rely on to figure out what is going on in the film. It took me until the time he actually decides to do something about this mysterious murder he saw to actually get into the movie and deeply interested. Before that, I was not into the movie, but I tried to be which caused for an even more interest in how the second half of the movie would play out. This second half was where I saw some of Hitchcock's best work (out of what I have seen) to me. There were a few times where I had that thought of how neat he did that or how cool that came across to me, and in return, these parts offered me a more sense of connection with the movie.

The factor that gave me the most dissapointment of the film was the choosing of the cast. This is something I have praised Alfred Hitchcock in all of the movies we have watched that were directed by him. I'd easily say this was not as good as his past choosings. I truly only enjoyed two characters - Lisa, his girlfriend and the woman whose dog was killed. What killed me the most was seeing all of the characters in the movie, specifically the ones who lived in all the sections of the apartments, that were just there. Although there for a reason, I would've loved to see more of the characters in Rear Window either more developed or played by a person who could've done that through their own script and acting. While we got to see many people's lives through the "rear window," we never truly got to see them.

This movie, though, does continue Hitchcock's use of the auteur theory, which briefly suggests that a true film director will have moments, themes, and certain things, all three of which mean something and add to the movie, in every film he/she makes that build up to the end where the voyeur, the viewer is able to see what is happening or has happened behind closed doors. This gives this auteur, the author, a chance to philosphically use his ideas in different ways to produce differnet movies in the same themes and contex. Hitchcock, of course, does this so brilliantly, especially with the three movies we have seen. We see why he does the things he does or for me at many times, I recognize his consistency in doing certain things and attempt to find the meaning of it. This point is evident in Hitchcock's movies because we eventually see what those many little things he put in the movie are all about.

There was something I truly did like about the movie, especially in the second half. That was the way the apartments were portrayed and we could see all of the happenings, lives, and cultures of each apartment. I think that is a really neat effect. While with that, I would've loved to see more development of those apartments, without that, it gave me more of a free mind to create my own. While creating a more developed personality of the people we saw from Jeff's eyes, it allowed me to apply the apartments within the windows to Jeff's own life but also to my life at the same time. Jeff is just like me sitting from behind those windows looking in to others. How did this portraying of all of these apartments relate to life in general, both for Jeff and me? For Jeff, it is perfectly clear. All of the windows that he looks into deal with relationship and romance - something that is lacking in his life with his girlfriend, Lisa. Lisa and he usually cannot seem to connect anymore and are having problems keeping up their relationship. As Jeff looks on, he sees so many different aspects of relationship and romantic life that give him a view of what can happen in his relationship if he decides to actually make it a true relationship. This is what we see from each window:

• lonely woman - Jeff sees what it is like to experience loneliness, sort of like what he is going through right now, but in this woman's perspective, it is not because she is not able as she tries and never seems to succeed.
• singles dating - Jeff sees what it is like to be able to casually date and be able to find someone a person might connect with.
• marriage gone sour - Jeff sees how marriage can go to the wrong direction and what that turn might do to him and his wife

These are a few examples of windows Jeff focuses on that let him learn about something that he realizes is a must in his life - love within a relationship, specifically with Lisa, his girlfriend. He finally comes to grip with the fact that Lisa is the one for him and that even though they might go through some of the things the people he looks on do, he can make it through with her.

So, with all of the detailed things going on in Rear Window, it was hard for me to get into the beginning. I think the problem with me though, was the fact that it was so un-varied in scenes; the shots were all taken basically from Jeff's apartment. I see the need for it to keep the movie on a basis from Jeff's perspective, but it just seemed like there was so much missing from the movie by doing this.

-Kevin