The Plot: In one of Hitchock's best films, Jimmy Stewart plays L.B. Jeffries, a recently injured, wheelchair bound photographer, who is now confined to his New York apartment as he waits for his leg to heal. The voyeuristic Jeffries soon takes to spying on his neighbors, concocting elaborate back-stories for each of the individuals. It's all fun and games until he realizes that he may have witnessed a murder. Jeffries soon employs his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) and nurse Stella (Thelma fucking Ritter) to uncover the potential crime. As with Hitchcock's previous inferior film Rope, Rear Window is confined to one room. We, of course, see the goings-on of other apartments, but we see everything through Jeffries' lens, so to speak. Aside from being a top-notch thriller Rear Window also acts as an examination of the voyeuristic nature of movie-going. In this film, Hitchcock implicates the audience in Jeffries' creepy peeping tom-ishness.
Why this movie could not exist today: Rather than devoting his time to spying on his neighbors for the chance at cheap, vicarious thrills; the bored, apartment bound Jeffries would spend his time jerking off to internet porn.
[Side note: Before anyone mentions it, yes I am aware of Disturbia. No, I haven't seen it because who gives a fuck.]
[The trailer:]
1 comment:
Thelma fucking Ritter indeed!
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