Week 4

The first few seconds of Rear Window made me groan inside. I thought since it was an old movie, it was going to be long and boring. However, that was not the case. It was quite the opposite.

The first thing I noticed was James Stewart. I knew him from It's a Wonderful Life, another great old movie. That fact alone made me intrigued to watch Rear Window. Alfred Hitchcock is a well known director, even today, so knowing these factors means the movie has a good foundation (in my opinion). I haven't seen many of his movies, but of the few I've seen I believe they are all well executed films.

Rear Window impressed me in many ways. One thing I particularly found interesting was the plot. Of course, there's movies about people solving murders. But I don't think I've heard of a movie where the guy who uncovers the murderer is a borderline pervert. Such an interesting way to approach this kind of story. 

One other interesting factor is the relationship between Jeff and his girlfriend Lisa. We see a lot of him talking down to Lisa, all which she seems to not let get to her because she loves him. Jeff is a stubborn man, and he makes it pretty obvious that he doesn't pay attention to what Lisa has to say. He's also too preoccupied watching Miss Torso dance around in her undergarments to even give her the attention she deserves. The only times he really paid attention to her is when she was in his face and kissing him, and of course when she called him out on his peeping Tom behavior and he got defensive about it. 

I enjoyed the different approach that Hitchcock took with Lisa. To some, Jeff is the hero because he is the one who uncovered the crime with his weird stalking habit. To others, the real hero is Lisa because she is the one who took the initiative to sneak into the apartment of the murderer and leave with evidence. I'm others. Sure, if it wasn't for Jeff then Thorwald would have gotten away with his crime. But Lisa is the ultimate hero because she took the risk of getting attacked by Thorwald all while collecting the evidence to get him incarcerated. This also being one of the few times that Jeff was giving her his undivided attention. It took all of that for him to realize that he has a gem for a girlfriend. 

Hitchcock is known for his suspense, and this film did a great job of that. But along with Lisa's role in the film, I also noticed... a happy ending... in an Alfred Hitchcock film. That is something rare, but it was extremely satisfying. Hitchcock could have ended the film with Lisa as another victim, as she was extremely close to being one. But instead, he adopted the typical happy ending of a typical Hollywood film and actually let his characters live happily ever after. Amazing! I'd give this movie a solid 9/10.