Analysis: Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window
THE OPENING: 00:00 - 30:00
The film opens with diegetic sound as the radio blares, “men are you over 40...do you feel tired and rundown? Do you have that listless feeling?” Hitchcock uses this diegetic sound to contextualise the narrative and gender norms, as the cultural expectations of masculine strength and virility strongly contrast against Jeff’s view from the window - his neighbour Ms Torso dancing around provocatively.
At this point Jeff has been sitting in a “plaster cocoon” for over “six weeks…with nothing to do but look out at the neighbours.” He speaks to Gunnison, his editor, about the monotony of his life, complaining that he will “…do something drastic...get married...then [he’ll] never be able to go anywhere.” Jeff makes it clear from the outset his desire to stave off the prison of domestic life and matrimony.
However, he is immediately refuted by Gunnison, who advises him, “it’s about time you got married, before you turn into a lonesome and bitter old man.” The social obligations of marriage that men and women must cater to fills Jeff with dread. He hates the thought of “rushing home to a hot apartment to listen to the automatic laundry and the electric dishwasher...and the nagging wife.” Here Hitchcock utilises the Kuleshov effect - the editing technique juxtaposes Jeff’s dialogue against what he is seeing in front of him, as his fears are realised in his view of the Thorwalds’ fighting, a realistic reminder of the dissatisfaction that marriage may bring.
While the question of gender norms and their connection to the idea of marriage is pervasive within the text, Stella’s entry into the film raises queries around the ethics of voyeurism. Stella, Jeff’s nurse, is highly critical of Jeff’s past-time in observing his neighbours. “We’ve become a race of peeping toms,” she advises him, critically labelling Jeff as a “window shopper.” Stella also leaves a valuable piece of “homespun philosophy” for Jeff, as she claims that “what people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change.” This idea - that personal introspection and reflection may provide more value than the “innocent fun” and voyeuristic delight Jeff looks for, comes into play repeatedly throughout the film.
Stella attempts to sway Jeff’s interest back to the earlier question of gender conventions and the idea of marriage as she inquires about Jeff’s relationship with Lisa. “She expects me to marry her...I’m just not ready for marriage,” Jeff explains. However, Stella retorts that, “every man’s ready for marriage when the right girl comes along,” and that, “Lisa Freemont is the right girl for any man with half a brain.”
It’s at this point that Jeff’s personal analysis of the people around him is revealed. “She’s too perfect. She’s too talented. She’s too beautiful...she’s too everything but what I want,” Jeff claims. Jeff appears to see the people around him as static entities, incapable of dynamism or growth. “Can you imagine her tramping around the world?” he asks Stella.
His understanding of Lisa to be a woman who needs a “new dress” and a “lobster dinner,” clashes with Stella’s objections. Stella claims that people have the capacity to adapt, and that “people with sense belong wherever they are put.” It is only when Jeff claims that, “the honest thing for me to do is just call the whole thing off...let her find somebody else,” that the audience really sees the flaws of his perspective. While Jeff believes he is being noble and valorous in choosing to end his relationship with Lisa due to perceived incompatibility, there is undeniable shallowness in his one dimensional perspective of Lisa’s qualities.
This notion immediately comes to a head upon Lisa’s visit to Jeff that night. As they both eat dinner and observe Jeff’s neighbours, Lisa asks Jeff to, “leave the magazine...for yourself...and me.” Jeff’s immediate rebuttal is, “let’s stop talking nonsense, shall we?” His sharp tone in the word “nonsense” immediately infantilises Lisa, characterising her needs and desires to be illogical, juvenile and less worthy.
Jeff’s gendered expectations of women are also revealed in his commentary of Ms Torso, who he watches from the window and claims is like, “a Queen Bee with her pick of the drones.” Here, Jeff is referring to the men at the party who are all vying for Ms Torso’s interest. In contrast, Lisa comments that, “she’s doing a woman’s hardest job: juggling wolves.” Lisa clearly believes Ms Torso’s decision making is confined by the gendered expectations around appropriate behaviour for women who must look to get married. Alternatively, Jeff cynically responds that, “[Ms Torso] picked the most prosperous looking one,” implying Ms Torso’s motivations in choosing a partner are purely based on the material.
The rising tension between Jeff and Lisa as they observe and comment on his neighbours throughout their dinner comes to a head later that night as they begin to argue. Lisa argues that she wants to be Jeff’s partner, and that she “[doesn’t] care what [Jeff does] for a living. [She] just want[s] to be part of it somehow.”
Jeff instead chooses to interrogate his partner on her past experiences, “did you ever eat fish heads and rice...ever get shot at...run over?” Jeff claims that Lisa just has to “face it” as she’s “not meant for that kind of a life.” This crucial conflict between the differing gendered expectations around how men and women must behave reveals a traditionalist culture which was only just beginning to be questioned in the post World War Two era.
RISING ACTION AND RESOLUTION: 30:00 - 80:00
There’s a clear transition now within the film, moving from ideas on the ethics of voyeurism and gender/marriage, moving into the genre of mystery which comes to the forefront of the film around the 37:00 minute mark. We have the diegetic sound of a blood-curdling scream cutting through the night, the smashing of glass and the darkened lighting heightening our cinematic experience.
Jeff notices that Thorwald “went out several times last night in the rain, carrying his sample case,” as Jeff feels that their is an air of suspicion around his behaviour. He believes that Thorwald’s furtive glances are “the kind of look a man gives when he’s afraid somebody might be watching him.”
As Jeff’s continued interest in Thorwald mounts, he reaches out to detective Doyle for assistance, demanding that Doyle should, “go over there and search Thorwald’s apartment, it must be knee deep in evidence!”
Doyle’s immediate refusal leads to Jeff’s frustration as he argues the search to be necessary, claiming that, “'if you find something, you’ve got a murderer and they won’t care about a couple of house rules. If you don’t find anything, the fellow’s clear.” The social context of this film becomes apparent in Jeff’s line of dialogue. Set in the early 1950s, Rear Window emphasises voyeurism as a social instrument with its own ethical complexities, reflecting the time of its creation where McCarthyist fear-mongering and suspicion was rife. This ethical justification of voyeurism as an instrument which ensures the safety of the community is a vital argument for students to consider.
While Jeff is advised by Doyle that he does indeed, have no need to surveil Thorwald, both Jeff and Lisa continue their investigation and suspicions of Thorwald. It is here that both Jeff and Lisa’s compatibility becomes apparent. Like Jeff, Lisa is able to use her skill-sets in order to better clarify Thorwald’s suspicious behaviour. “Women aren't that unpredictable,” she advises Jeff, “women don't keep their jewelry in a purse, getting all twisted and scratched and tangled up.” It is interesting that it is her more feminine knowledge that Lisa is utilising to add value to Jeff’s observations, as it was this facet of her personality that made Jeff feel as though she was too superficial and not an ideal partner for him. Jeff’s clear deference to her observations, as he asks her, “is that so?” clearly demonstrates their shifting dynamic.
Despite their additional observations, Doyle’s refusal to investigate Thorwald once again highlights the ethical complexities behind voyeurism. His advice to Jeff, “that’s a secret private world you’re looking into out there. People do a lot of things in private they couldn’t possibly explain in public,” reminds Jeff about the privacy he is intruding upon in choosing to spy upon his neighbours.
RISING ACTION AND RESOLUTION: 80:00 - 90:00
Hindered in continued investigation by Doyle, Jeff watches his neighbours once more with Lisa. They see Miss Lonely Hearts coming home after an unsuccessful date with young man who is only interested in sexual advances. As she slumps over in defeat on her couch, Jeff expresses that Doyle, “ ‘…might have been onto something when he said that was pretty private stuff going on out there.” Lisa retorts that she’s, “not much on rear window ethics,” and follows by asking, “whatever happened to that old saying, Love Thy Neighbour?”
As they continue to discuss, a piercing scream of a woman interrupts the middle of their conversation, followed by desperate wailing. “The dog, something’s happened to the dog!” the Neighbours shout, as everyone rushes to look out at the source of the noise in the Village.
The dog’s owner begins to wail, “which one of you did it? Which one of you killed my dog? You don’t know the meaning of the word neighbour!” Her outburst reveals the fractured nature of community, as indeed there is little concern for communal welfare, with a guest at the Piano Man’s house saying, “let’s go back in, the show’s done,” when the woman stops crying.
It is this incident which once again sparks Jeff’s suspicion, as he excitedly tells Lisa, “'look, in the whole courtyard only one person didn’t come to the window. Look!” The camera gives us a mid shot of the darkened windows of Thorwald’s apartment, heightening the suspense. “Why would Thorwald want to kill a little dog? Because it knew too much?” Lisa asks, leaving the audience with the same question.
The following days lead to Jeff’s revelation, as he turns to Stella and claims, “I think I’ve solved a murder.” He show’s Stella the old photographs he had of the back garden from two weeks ago. “You see those two yellow zinnia’s are not as tall as they were. Now since when do flowers grow shorter in two weeks?” Jeff asks. Stella, like Jeff, agrees that “there’s something buried there.” However, rather than attempt to convince Doyle of this, Lisa tells Jeff, “Let’s wait till it gets a little darker, then I’ll go there and dig them up.” Here we see Lisa’s sense of adventure and action - a reminder of her compatibility with Jeff’s own character.
Here the tension rises as Jeff decides to write a letter to Thorwald which reads: LARS THORWALD “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?”
As Lisa slides the letter under the door we have a mid-shot, revealing Thorwald’s widening eyes as he clutches the letter. “Look out Lisa, he’s coming!” Jeff’s voice is a loud whisper, strained with stress.
While Lisa is delivering the letter, Stella, Jeff’s nurse looks out onto the neighbours and notices that “Miss Lonely Hearts just laid out something that looks like rhodium trieconal capsules.” Stella advises Jeff that “those red pills put everybody...to sleep…” Stella decides to keep an eye out for Ms Lonely Hearts, to ensure her safety.
As Lisa returns to Jeff they both realise that Ms Thorwalds’ ring is the proof they need that Mr Thorwald has harmed her, as “the last thing she would leave behind would be her wedding ring,” if she really had gone out of town. Lisa decides that she must return to Thorwald’s apartment in order to find the ring and prove Thorwald’s guilt.
Attempting to bait Thorwald out of his apartment, Jeff calls him and asks him to “meet me in the bar at the Albert Hotel…” as he leaves Lisa begins to investigate his apartment. However, Thorwald’s return immediately puts Lisa in danger as terrified, she begins to shout, “get off me, Jeff! Jeff! Jeff!” Jeff quickly calls the police who arrive in time to arrest Lisa, as Thorwald indicates she is trespassing. However, on her finger, she cleverly signals to Jeff that she has Ms Thorwalds’ ring, which means that now that she is in police custody, the police will have it as evidence.
Unfortunately, Thorwald also sees who Lisa is signalling to, and calls Jeff who accidentally picks up the phone believing he is speaking to Detective Doyle. “Hello, hello, Tom. I think Thorwald’s left, I don’t see -!” Jeff immediately cuts himself off as he realises he may not be speaking to Tom Doyle.
At this point the music stops and the diegetic sound of cars and traffic fades out, amplifying the sound of Thorwald’s steadily encroaching footsteps and heightening the suspense. Jeff’s desperate attempts to move around the house emphasise his vulnerability - he cannot leave the room. The audience are given a close up of Thorwald as he enters the room, but his entire face is shadowed, heightening our fear and anticipation, as only his sharp glare and frowned face are visible.
Jeff desperately lights a flashbulb in Thorwalds face, temporarily blinding him, however, Thorwald pushes Jeff outside of the window where he falls as the policy quickly run to help him. The police eventually arrest Thorwald who confesses to his crimes.
Ending: 90:00 -115:00
The final scenes of the film show the community of Greenwhich village restored back to its original harmony. The Thorwalds’ apartment is being refurbished, as we see a long shot of the painters adding a final coat of white throughout the walls. We hear Ms Lonely Hearts speaking to the Piano Man on how important his music has been to her. Finally, we see Miss Torso meet with a young army private - she has proven Jeff’s beliefs about her romantic choices wrong.
Panning into Jeff’s apartment we see Lisa reading “Beyond the High Himalayas” and wearing jeans. Here, the clear shift in costuming away from the feminine dresses and towards the practical jeans shows us a shift in her character - this Lisa is willing to choose mobility and pragmatism above the aesthetics she once prioritised. This does not mean she has entirely shifted in character, however, as when she sees Jeff is asleep, puts the book down and picks up an issue of Bazaar Magazine.
The final word of the film are in the form of song: “But dream forever/In your arms/Oh, Lisa/Lisa,” as Franz Waxman & Harold Rome’s “Lisa” plays in the background.