celestestamenkovic This movie is exteremlely intense and suspenseful. In my opinion this movie is a masterpiece and deserves its place in cinema history.

cmb-00060 When watching 'Rear Window,' it was very prominent from the beginning that Alfred Hitchcock was a very talented director. He did a very good job at captivating the viewer and making them feel as if they were in the apartment instead of Jeffries. The way the film was shot made it seem like you were right there looking across at the other apartments instead of watching Jeffries do it. It was impressive that Hitchcock was able to build such a complex storyline with the main character stuck in his apartment the whole time. A good portion of the beginning of the movie is spent setting up all the different characters so that the viewer has a complete understanding of what is happening in the film. He portrays the smaller storylines in the film just as successfully as he does for the main one. They don't have a massive impact on the film but they force the viewers to become very observant and focus on more than one aspect of the film. We see the ups and down of the musician, the daily routine of the dancer and the artist on the bottom level as well as the main storyline with the salesman. Hitchcock also did a very good job at incorporating many different genres into this film. This keeps it from being one sided and keeps the viewers entertained. There's the obvious mystery aspect of the film to start, which was the most prominent genre to viewers. The whole premise of the movie is Jeffries trying to solve the mystery of what is happening in the apartment across from him. Secondly, there is the thriller feel to the film. This is what keeps the viewers on their seats and guessing throughout the movie. We are finding out information at the same time Jeffries is, so the viewers are surprised by the same things he is. Thirdly, there is the romantic part of the film with Jeffries and Lisa. This is one of the genres that makes the movie so complex. Along with the various other storylines in the movie there is relationship between Lisa and Jeffries that we see develop throughout the movie. Lastly, there is a somewhat light comedic feel to the movie at some parts. The majority is not even somewhat related to comedy but there are few scenes that have a lighter and more relaxed feel that makes the movie even better-rounded. Lastly, Hitchcock did a very good job using mise-en-scene in this film. The detail that is in each scene of this movie is one of the main things that makes it so good. If you look in the background of each scene everything is perfect in comparison to the character that it is with. For example, in Jeffries' apartment if you look in the background it isn't just any normal apartment. You can see various items that correspond with his career as a photographer that make you view his apartment as a whole along with Jeffries, not as two separate parts of the film. Hitchcock also did a very good job with mise-en-scene when it came to the apartments across from Jeffries. Each separate apartment is like a completely different lifestyle. You see the people all around the salesman's apartment living their everyday lives as if nothing's wrong throughout the movie. He doesn't just dial in on that one apartment for the rest of the movie once we find out something isn't right, the apartment becomes the main focus, but not the only focus. We still throughout the movie see the other characters going about their business.

wth-60179 Rear Window From an artistic perspective, I thought that this movie was very well done. The colors were vibrant but also showed the dullness that living in an urban environment can have. I also enjoyed the costumes and makeup of all the actors. I found that it reflected the time period well and accurately represented what a middle class person would dress and look like. I also enjoyed the sounds that were incorporated into the film. Throughout the film, birds could be heard or dogs barking and this gave a very open feel to the otherwise closed in feeling of being in a walled in apartment complex. Another very good aspect of the film was the quality of the actors. Throughout the movie, the actors do a very good job of "show don't tell." What I mean by this is that many scenes in the movie do not need the actors telling each other how they feel and it can be read on their faces. An example of this is when Grace comes to the realization that LB's theory that Lars killed his wife may have some truth behind it. You can see the change of expression on her face and without her even saying anything, the audience knows what she is thinking. The film had a very slow and relaxing feel at the beginning which I found interesting because it would be the opposite of what you might feel living in a downtown apartment. At the beginning of the film, the camera pans from apartment to apartment showing the daily lives of the people around LB. This gives us the feeling that we are actually looking through LB's eyes and feeling what he feels. I had a slight sense of loneliness when watching this because I felt that all of this was going on around me but I still felt distant and not a part of it all. I believe this is what Hitchcock was intending when filming this because it allows us to relate more to LB. During this scene, and in many other parts of the movie, it is as if LB is actually in a movie theater watching all of this unfold in front of him. In many scenes, such as the one where Grace breaks into Lars' house, LB must sit back helpless and watch it all take place as with the audience in the theater or the viewers at home. I found this very unique in that I have never experienced this perspective with any other movie I had seen. One thing about the film that can be seen as both a positive and a negative is the fact that there is a very long buildup from the beginning of the film to the climax. Although this can be seen as very important aspect of the story, I found it kind of boring at times and a little slow. There were times that I found myself spacing out and losing focus in the film. While I believe that a large portion of the film was slow, the last half hour of the movie had me on the edge of my seat. When Grace broke into the apartment and when Lars confronted LB were very well done. I felt the suspense that LB felt because we both felt that we were helpless and trapped in our seats.

Coventry This is likely to go down as the least popular user-comment in history, but then so be it. I believe in honesty and freedom of speech. Although universally considered as one of the top three (or maybe top five) best thrillers that Alfred Hitchcock made in his lengthy and undeniably brilliant career, I personally feel that "Rear Window" is the most overrated movie of all times and I sincerely can't fathom why it's such a cinematic landmark. I reckon that the basic plot idea is utmost intriguing and that it's rather inventive how the cameras film literally everything from within the same secluded living room location, but that about sums up all the film's strengths. The narcistic photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) sits immobilized in his apartment, bound to both a wheelchair and a humongous plaster cast around his leg ever since he took too much risk during a photo shoot on a racetrack. Purely out of boredom, he begins to watch all his neighbors across the little cement garden. The watching quickly turns into observing with binoculars and then into spying with his most professional & strongest photo lenses. He then thinks he witnesses a middle-aged man murdering his wife in cold blood, but a befriended police inspector, his lovely girlfriend and even his nosy housekeeper have trouble believing him. I was particularly annoyed by the behavior and ignorance of the protagonist. Jeff is supposed to be an intelligent person, so he must understand or at least respect that the police can't just go invading someone's private property and interrogate them about a possibly felony for which there isn't any evidence. The entire film evidently revolves on L.B. Jefferies' arrogant persona, and of course it doesn't help that I never really liked the actor James Stewart. I can appreciate him when his characters aren't omnipresent, like in Hitchcock's "Rope" for example, but here he was rapidly getting on my nerves. The other characters, including Grace Kelly who never looked prettier, are downgraded to mere extras. I am also aware that practically every review praises that the powerful impact of "Rear Window" lies in the fact that it's a statement on the human towards voyeurism and blah blah, but to me a film has to be entertaining and plausible first and foremost. "Read Window" along with "Vertigo" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much" made me realize that can't get into Hitch's espionage or 'wrong-man-condemned' thrillers, and that I find his more polished thrillers extremely boring, unrealistic and overrated. I'm primarily a horror fanatic, and thus love the nasty Hitchcock films the most, like "Psycho", "Shadow of a Doubt", "Rope" and "Frenzy".