Review of Rear Window (1954) by Simon H — 04 Jul 2014

After watching the Birds and Psycho, Rear Window was my third Hitchcock movie and whilst I enjoyed it, I must say I would not rank it higher than the other two films. Rather than the script or the acting, which I personally think is nothing special this time round, it's the filmmaking style that caught my attention.

The story is a unique one which has been attempted a number of times since and Hitchcock makes the smart move of never showing you the view from within the opposite apartments. Apart from the odd scene on the outside, the entire film keeps you with James Stewart's character in his apartment. If really puts you in his shoes as you also can only see the other characters through the windows as you do not hear anything they say. Rather than get more information than the major characters do, you find yourself getting equal opportunity to uncover the mystery as the fictional characters.

This is what leads onto my disappointment in the film. It's hard to go into detail without revealing the ending, After the tense actions throughout the film, you find yourself with an ending you didn't expect, but all for the wrong reasons. It might not be one of Hitchcock's greatest films in my opinion, but Rear Window is still worth watching.