Review of Rear Window (1954) by Jjauga — 28 Sep 2021

Story: 8/10...love the premise and the small container of in which the story plays out. One backyard shared by a dozen or so tenants. One week of action. One grand narrative with a few interesting side-narratives to make it interesting. Only complaint is that it all wrapped up so quickly with a neat little bow on top. And Jeffries' paranoia and chauvinism is rewarded in the end. Blah.

Dialogue: 9/10...funny, intriguing, with a deep sea of meaning hidden beneath the surface of the words.

Performances: 8/10...basically a stageplay on screen, which delivered some pretty predictable stage-acting performances from several characters. Kelly and Stewart are phenomenal (Kelly especially), but the other characters all LOOK like they are acting.

Misc.: 10/10...Hitchcock is just masterful with the camerawork, editing, score, lighting. All the subtle stuff you aren't supposed to notice isn't noticeable, which is what makes it noteworthy! Phenomenal directing.

Overall: 9/10...a few parts age quite poorly, but it's clearly a masterpiece and the inspiration for so many single-set movies that followed in it's wake.