Rear Window Review

The circumstances that led to me watching Rear Window are odd. My wife and I have watched YouTube quizzes, often around music or films. I often recognise films I’ve not even seen by screenshots through sheer awareness. But one film came up several times and I didn’t know it. So Rear Window became our go to answer when we didn’t recognise what we were seeing. When I stumbled across it on streaming I had to watch it. And my goodness I’m glad I did.

This is only my second Hitchcock film, following on from seeing Psycho years ago. It’s also my first time seeing James Stewart and Grace Kelly. The fuss made about this trio is completely warranted. Who knew! Stewart and his everyman quality is obvious, but Kelly is wondrous to watch. Lighting aside, she glows. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it’s just true screen presence, but there’s an aura for sure.

Having been laid up for six weeks with a broken leg and hip, photojournalist Jefferies is labelled as going stir crazy by those around him as he takes more and more interest in the neighbourhood he can follow from his rear window. His peeping tom tendencies are dismissed as someone with cabin fever. Perhaps he should be concentrating more on his own issues. But it’s easier to focus on the shortcomings of others isn’t it?

But Hitchcock’s camera involves us. By sharing the same view as Jefferies, and in turn his knowledge and curiosity, we’re just as much a voyeur. So the tension and threat that he builds feels personal. I felt like an accomplice, my morbid curiosity getting the better of me.

It’s easy to forget older films. I need to make an effort to see more of them. And I need to keep in min that they’re classics for a reason! Rear Window is seventy-one years old now, but its core story remains true. What does go on behind closed doors? Is it any of our business? Or is there a point where we should intervene, even risking our own safety? All of this still resonates. Amazing film.