STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM - “Rear Window”
“DON’T!”
It’s an exclamation only heard by our main character on a hot night from an apartment across from his room.
Rear Window is considered one of the best films from director Alfred Hitchcock, and one of the greatest films of all time.
Written by John Michael Hayes and based on the short story, “It Had to be Murder,” by Cornell Woolrich, Rear Window is about photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies who is stuck in his outdoor apartment complex with a broken leg in a cast. He passes the time by watching his neighbors live out their lives. On one late night, he hears a loud scream come from one of the couples’ apartments, the Thorwalds. Jeff knows that Mrs. Thorwald has been bedridden, but now, he can’t see her anymore. He assumes the worst has happened to her.
What makes the film stand out is that is that every action and information that the audience sees and learns is always based on what Jeff sees and learns. All of the audible character interactions take place in his apartment. In fact, all the angles of the apartment complex look like it was taken from Jeff’s apartment. It’s all visual storytelling.
While all of this is going, Jeff is constantly taken care of by his witty nurse, Stella, and gets visits from his beautiful socialite girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont (I have to say the full name because if the film makes it a big deal in introducing her, I have to as well.)
Normally, I wouldn’t bring up the B-plot, but here, the women play a big part in the plot.
When Jeff informs the two women of his accusation… they go along with it. When it’s time to sneak around the Thorwalds’ apartment for evidence, Lisa impulsively volunteers, even though that was not the original plan. If you want an example of a brave, strong woman, look no further.
The dialogue is also memorable too. None of the lines are famously quoted; rather it’s what the dialogue revolves around that still exists today. Anyone who watches this film can still relate to the characters and what they say. When we are introduced to our main characters, it’s established that Lisa wants Jeff to marry her, he doesn’t want to because “she’s too perfect,” and Stella makes a remark about how ridiculous he sounds. Granted, this is a relationship that has always existed, especially in film, but Rear Window doesn’t really focus on that too much. It’s just played out in a scene in the beginning, the middle, and resolves in the end.
While Psycho may be Hitchcock’s most well-known film that exists all over pop culture (in America’s eyes, at least), Rear Window is my favorite by him. It is the first film I watched from beginning to end that was directed by him.
From an independent filmmaker’s point-of-view, the setup is genius: a murder mystery that takes place in an apartment complex, but the action takes place in only one apartment room. Any other action is filmed from the room itself. Even if the view is blocked because of a lack of windows, that just gives the audience a chance to leave it to their imagination.
The apartment complex itself is not even a real apartment, but rather a set on one of the Paramount studios soundstages.
Rear Window is still a memorable film today, and is as well-received as it was back in 1954. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is a story that has been repeatedly parodied on television, including The Simpsons, The Flintstones, Castle, and White Collar.
Grab your cameras, and give it a shot.
