Rear
Window
April 9, 2014
Alfred Hitchcock was coined “The Master of Suspense”
because he used everyday things, noise, animals and built suspension from these
everyday, non-threating entities. The use of sound in Rear Window brings chills to the audience in Rear Window. Hitchcock builds tension with the noise of a ringing
telephone. Hitchcock keeps the camera on the phone while the background is
black, the phone is the only in the frame, until Jeffries picks up the phone
and no one answers at the other end, the only thing the audience hears is heavy
breathing. Something as simple and non-threating as footsteps signalizes a terrifying
scene is about to happen. Hitchcock has no background music, no noise, no
birds, no human voices, just the heavy footsteps that are slowly approaching
Jeff’s front door. The room is pitch dark and Jeff is helpless in his
wheelchair. The heavy footsteps get louder and louder till they are no more and
a menacing Thorwald enters the room ready to destroy. Sometimes beauty is
dangerous and things that seem innocent may not be innocent at all. In Rear Window, Hitchcock uses Thorwald’s
flower bed as the flowerbed of death for Mrs. Thorwald. The flower bed is where
Thorwald buried his rage and his hatred and evil thoughts for his wife.
Throwald hacked up his wife and put her in the flowerbed. This juxtaposition is
what Hitchcock was famous for, innocent, none-threating animals that can in the
blink of the eye become threating, i.e. Hitchcock’s the Birds. In The Birds,
Hitchcock uses something as non-life threating as a bird and they become the
killers. Hitchcock uses the Birds to show that innocence is dangerous and that
beauty can be deceiving. The idea of beauty being deceptive is evident with the
character of Lisa in Rear Window. Jeff saw Lisa as beautiful but boring, even
weak. In reality Jeff was the weak one, Lisa was the one that did all the hard
work, while Jeff sat in his wheelchair and just observed. Lisa became the one
in danger and proved that outward beauty can be dangerous. Rear Window is so
much a classic that it has been intimidated through the years, examples of
homages to this classic is found with the movies: Disturbia, Fright Night, Body Double, and the TV show Castle.
A still from the TV show Castle. This episode was a homage to Rear Window.
I love how you started by talking about Hitchcock's use of sound. I definitely noticed how different sounds were used throughout this movie to emphasize what was going on in a way that is more artful than many films today. The scene you described with the telephone call leading to Thorwald's attack on Jeff is a great example because I was definitely feeling the suspense Hitchcock wanted as I watched. I was really nervous as the scene progressed, wondering what was going to happen. The silence made it that much more menacing, and the footsteps were equally eerie. I also liked Hitchcock's use of music to move characters, particularly the piano player. He effected both Lisa and "miss lonely hearts" in different ways, just with music. I think that's brilliant. Last, I love your mention of how the tv show "Castle" did an episode like this. I didn't know that, but now I want to go find it.
ReplyDeleteTo pick up on your mention of Lisa in the film. Your right, Jeff found Lisa beautiful but boring. He was this worldly adventurer and she was miss perfect. His treatment of her and attitude toward her before he began to realize how interesting she really was had me squirming in my chair. If it had been a more recent picture, I would have expected to learn that Jeff didn't like women; given the age of the film, I knew this was not the case. I kept thinking: I wish I had this guys problems. Here is a gorgeous, intelligent, smart, successful woman, and he's bored with her. Then we find out it was all just character development that would lead to a grand romance and a happy ending. Only in the movies!
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about the telephone scene building tension. I agree with Christina, I was nervous too. I knew he was going to come through the door, but I was still really scared and nervous. I don't think I've seen that episode of "Castle," yet. I'm really behind, so I need to catch up, but I really want to watch it now!
ReplyDelete