Movie Review : Rear Window

In this essay, I shall try to illustrate whether analysing the movie Rear Window as a classical example of the Freudian concept of voyeurism, is appropriate. Voyeurism is defined in The Penguin dictionary of psychology as:

Voyeurism is originally defined as ‘the practice of gaining sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity’. However, the term is also used to describe a general spying on, or having interest in, other people’s lives. This kind of voyeurism is the central theme for Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery thriller, Rear Window (1954). The film follows the boredom-induced curiosity of photographer L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies. Bound to his wheelchair with a broken leg, he has little to do with his time, and finds himself looking into and involving himself in, the lives of his

The story begins with James Stewart (L.B. Jefferies), a professional photographer on a wheelchair due to an accident. He was sitting on his wheelchair in the morning near his rear window watching his neighbors, who has their windows open. He saw Sara Berner (Woman on Fire Escape), Frank Cady (Man on Fire Escape) slept on their balcony, Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso) dancing, Havis Davenport (Newlywed), and Rand Harper (Newlywed) who just moved into the apartment complex, and Lars Thorwald who is a salesman irritated by his sick wife, Irene Winston (Mrs. Emma Thorwald). Around dinner time, Jeff’s girlfriend, Grace Kelly

Documentarians often want to get as close to their subject matter as possible. Some documentarians have an insider perspective which ignites a spark to create a piece that illuminates a specific topic or area of study. There are also documentarians that have no affiliation with said subject matter, but want to explore the topic in question. Finally, there are documentarians that have a foot in both worlds. Insider/outsider is a theory in which a documentarian can be close to a subject, but also possess characteristics or traits that make them distant from the topic in question (Coles, 1998). Such is the case with the directors of both Stranger with a Camera and The House I Live In. Due to their own location, both Eugene Jarecki and Elizabeth Barret exhibit characteristics that make them fall into the insider/outsider roles as directors. Robert Coles defines location by stating, “We notice what we notice because of who we are” (Coles, 1998, p. 7). Included in this is, a person’s education, race, class, and gender. Both directors realize they are outsiders and utilize a lens into a world in which they are not otherwise a part of. Jarecki’s lens comes in the form of Nanny Jeter, his family’s nanny from when he was a child. Barret’s lens for her documentary is the community that she shared with Ison. The two directors enter into a world that they are not a part of because of their location, but forge a connection to the subject matter through means of a lens.

This technique momentarily suspends the omniscient gaze of the camera, and evokes the spectator’s—as well as Hitchcock’s—desire to “capture” the female protagonist as she escapes off-screen. In this context, the seemingly objective tracking shot may in fact reveal itself as a violent, subjective

Sitting alone trapped inside my home watching my neighbors. This setting is a description of the plot in the films Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock (1954) and Disturbia by D.J Carusso(2007).These two films contain many similar themes which are a part of the movie’s plot but are slightly different. The two films both contain a vast amount of voyeurism presented in different ways. In both films women are treated rude, disrespectfully and are victims of violence. Both films also share the theme of Isolationism which contributes to the plot, tone and development of characters. The films are so alike in comparison and little in contrast that it would lead you to believe that Disturbia is a modern remake of Rear window.

In the film Rear Window, voyeurism is the most prominent theme. Hitchcock presents this theme by using different effect such as sound and camera angles and suspenseful characters and scenes. In Rear Window, Hitchcock reveals to the audience that Jeffries', Lisa and Stella are not the only voyeurs in the film, the audience are involved as well in the events that unfold in the movie and we are caught observing them. As a director, Hitchcock believes that being voyeurs can end in a tremendous disaster and it is best to not get ourselves involved. The audience experience the emotions Jeffries', Lisa and Stella feel throughout this film because of how Hitchcock has used effects and the theme of voyeurism.

We had to use the back door to get in. They called it the “black door”, which was basically just the name for the only door that the black people could use to get into the place. They made us come in through the back, about an hour before the front doors opened, and set up our stuff onstage. We were given a little under ten minutes to set up everything and then they sent us offstage, where we were told to stay out of sight until they called us onstage. Most places gave us our own dressing room, to hang out and smoke in, unless of course there was also a white man performing, in which case he’d get the room, and we’d sit on the floor backstage. Tonight, we had a dressing room. It was nights like this that I loved; when we could book a speakeasy to perform at, and the man who ran the club treated us like we were real stars; when we got our own dressing room, the same one that all the white men used. Those nights when we had to give up the room to those men, by contrast, were the worst; it was like being reduced from the star of the show, to the opening act. They called us Richie and the Gang. Eli played a really slick four-stringed Dobro Tenor, Lyon performed with a 22 fret plectrum banjo, Denny and Rod had the hippest bass saxophones around, Louis played the Buescher trumpet, and Ray and Eugene used whatever piano and drum set the speakeasies we played at had to offer. The girls and I sang back up for Richie, the real show-stealer. He was everything you’d expect from a 1940’s

This is accentuated by effective characterization, symbolism and filming techniques. Through the utilization of these techniques, Buckley is able to effectively portray the life of John Harrowell and create an evocative film that moves the audience and spreads the awareness of the stigmatization and mistreatments mentally ill individuals receive within the isolated walls of the mental

Interpretation and understanding are essential portions of films since it allows the viewers to comprehend the plot. Concurrently, there are films that allow the characters to make sense of their own issues within the footage and engage in the perception of it. In the films, Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954) and Ali, Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder, 1974), the characters are shown interpreting their views, looking for meaning, and forming judgements, as a consequence causing reaction. Both films exhibit the protagonist watching and interpreting its surroundings based on what they see close to them. Thesis

Always a viewer, and never an active participant. When watching a film, an audience is allowed to look in another person’s life. All the audience can do is sit in their seat, and watch the events as they unfold in front of them. The audience can laugh, cry, and scream in their seats, but nothing they do can change what is about to happen. Alfred Hitchcock is famous for his suspenseful films, which leaves his audiences screaming.

What are the issues of watching and voyeurism in film? The intention of this essay is to discuss both films (The Truman Show, 1998 and Rear Window, 1954) alongside established theoretical criticism (Laura Mulvey and Norman K. Denzin) in an attempt to demonstrate how the issues of watching and voyeurism, as seen in todays mainstream Hollywood cinema, both engages and entices the spectator and to look at how the definition of the voyeur has changed. Before entering into a discussion about voyeurism in Rear Window and The Truman Show, an understanding of what is meant by ‘the dynamics of voyeurism’ in film must be attempted. The dictionary definition of a voyeur is: (1) a person who gains sexual pleasure from watching others when they are

People like to watch other people and are often quick to make judgments from what they see. This is what L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries does Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”. Jeff is a wheelchair-bound photographer who is used to an active lifestyle. Because of his boredom, Jeff spends his time looking out his window and watching his neighbors go about their life. However, Jeff does more than watch, because he at the same time he is also making judgments about who his neighbors are and what they must be like. This leads to Jeff becoming obsessed with the disappearance of the wife of his neighbor Mr. Thorwald, because he believed that he murdered her.

While several of his works dwell considerably on voyeurism, Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window addresses it most directly. Not only does the film comment explicitly on ‘rear window ethics’, it also forces audiences to identify with the characters who violate them. No character in Rear Window is morally clean, and through several cinematic techniques, Hitchcock compels viewers to sympathize with nearly all of them. More than anything, Rear Window is a film about the audience’s complicity with ethically imperfect characters and their ethically imperfect behavior. This is particularly evident in two climactic scenes. The first scene creates a close identification with L.B. Jefferies, the main character and principal voyeur

The movie I have chosen for my movie review paper is Schindler 's List. The film was directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie is American made but was filmed in Poland. I chose this movie because I am interested in history and World War 2. The setting of the movie takes place primarily in Krakow, Poland during World War 2 (1939-1945). Poland was under German occupation at the time. The setting of the film shows us the Holocaust and the mistreatment of the Jews. This makes it of historical importance in understanding its social stratification value. It became especially emotional for Steven Spielberg because he is also Jewish and his family has direct ties to the Holocaust. The social stratification concepts I chose to select are social differentiation, social inequality, and the stratification systems. Specifically the slave and social class systems. Social Stratification is defined as “A form of inequality in which categories of people are systematically ranked in a hierarchy on the basis of their access to scare but valued resources.” (Thompson, Hickey 199). Concepts of social stratification revolve around inequality, differential treatment, and unequal access to wealth, power, and prestige. The plot of the movie revolves around these concepts with the differential treatment of the Jews by the Nazi Germans. This is what makes these stratification concepts sociologically important. The plot shows how the Jews were stripped of their wealth, power, and