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PAGE 14
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REAR
WINDOW
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To many viewers, Rear
Window (1954) is Hitchcock at his best. The movie is indeed another
fine example of pure cinema.
A wheelchair bound photographer
watches his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced that
one of them has committed a murder.
The film presents a disturbingly
entertaining vision of human curiosity and voyeurism. Most all of the camera
shots are from the protagonist's perspective, forcing the film viewers
to see the adventure from his point of view and making us share in his
voyeuristic pleasure. |
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The
Apartment
Rear Window finds a
photographer, L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries, looking outside his New York apartment
into a courtyard, its apartments, and their tenants. Jeff is bound to a
wheelchair because of an accident on one of his adventurous journeys. His
girlfriend, Lisa, is not successful in persuading him to marry her.
Also visiting Jeff's apartment
is Stella, his nurse.
The
Courtyard Universe
With nothing better
to do, Jeff is looking outside his apartment window and views his neighbors
and their lives. So he sees...
...the Newlyweds...
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..."Miss Hearing Aaid"...
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...the Composer (with guest)...
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..."Miss Lonelyhearts"...
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...the Old Couple and their
dog...
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... and "Miss Torso."
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These are the protagonists
of Rear Window's
universe,
in addition to a man and
his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald.
Suspicion
One day, Jeff notices that
Mr. Thorwald is constantly leaving and returning to his apartment
with a small suitcase. Mrs.
Thorwald, meanwhile, is no longer to be seen. Jeff begins to
suspect Thorwald
has murdered his wife and begins a surveillance.
"We've become a race
of Peeping Toms," Stella remarks.
"What people ought to
do is get outside their own house and look in for a change."
Jeff's suspicion mounts when
the next day the Old Couple's dog is found dead in the courtyard, killed
after it had sniffed at a flower bed...
...because it knew too
much?
The
Conspiracy
Out to proof Thorwald's guilt,
Jeff calls in the assistance of
Lisa and Stella,
who are now all too eager to help.
First they trick Thorwald
to leave his
apartment.
Then Lisa goes inside Thorwald's
place, looking for his wife's ring.
Lisa finds the ring.
But Thorwald sees her and
also him who is behind all of this.
Mathieu
Deflem
DeflemM@yahoo.com.
This
page is part of Hitchcockonline.org.
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