Rear Window Essay Example

Rear Window is a film which has a considerable amount of voyeurism in it and also shows that Hitchcock was a master at creating suspense and unbearable tension out of apparently normal situations. The seemingly innocuous pastime of the injured professional photographer played by James Stewart turns into a wild murder chase which is actually played around from the window of his own 7th floor apartment.
The film also includes audience participation on a larger scale which shows that this may be the fulcrum of the film. Hitchcock is a master at involving audiences who may initially seem detached from proceedings but the suspense which is created in Rear Window is hard to parallel. Initially the film is slow and rather boring although with the entrance of Grace Kelly there is also a level of sexual tension which heightens everything accordingly. In fact the audience is almost voyeuristic as it begins searching for the clues of the murder which is happening before their very eyes but where there is no conclusive proof that it actually happened.
Character studies are also essentially part of the film especially where one is concerned with the lonely athlete who feels rejected and the single man who is actually beside himself with grief and unhappiness. Perhaps it is also a window on one’s life. The film critics such as Wood perhaps disagree between themselves on the nature of the film’s message but it is crucial to note that at the end of the day, Hitchcock wanted to concentrate on the audience who participates in the film in more ways than one.