Rear Window: Cinematic Philosophy - Essay Example

Rear Window – cinematic philosophy Introduction: One of the very famous Hitchcock movies ‘Rear Window’ is considered to be a masterpiece that is perfectly constructed to manipulate the narrative and the viewers experience of it. Rear Window tells the story of a photographer, L.B. Jefferies, who has lost his walking strength by an accident been while photographing a race car crash, and become immobilized. His girlfriend, Lisa, wants to marry him and tries to settle him down, but Jefferies is completely unwilling to give up his adventurous lifestyle for his girlfriend’s high class lifestyle. Having been trapped in his apartment due to his inability to walk, he becomes inquisitive about his neighbors’ lives and starts to pry into their every movement in their everyday life by watching through his window. Things become very much complicated when Jefferies observes that the man opposite his apartment seems to be discontented with his irritating, invalid wife. When this mans wife disappears, Jefferies begins to build a story of murder in his mind holding his neighbor as responsible his wife’s death and gives calls to his detective friend Tom Doyle to check it out. When Doyle comes up with nothing, Jefferies and Lisa decide to get personally involved. They eventually confront Thorwald and he admits that he did kill his wife. He then attempts to kill Jefferies, but is unsuccessful. During the tribulation, Jefferies has gained a new respect for Lisa and her adventurous spirit, thus saving their relationship. Philosophical theme underlying the main story: Rear Window reveals some philosophical and psychological aspects of human nature. It is basically a film about obsession and human curiosity. Voyeurism is the main philosophical theme of this brilliant film of Hitchcock. Rear Window deals with voyeurism and obsession in the great Master’s way. Voyeurism can be defined as an act of observing the lives of others, often, but not always, for sexual pleasure. It is a process through which people achieve more satisfaction from viewing than living. All of us -some to a large extent, some to a less extent- are voyeur, after all, going to a movie is nothing but opening a window into the lives of others, be it fictional or real. Its a simply a kind of non-participatory experience that provides a person with huge pleasure through the most simple form of action - watching. (Wood, 1989) Rear Window can be described as a great combination of light romantic comedy, depressing dissection, and Hitchcockian suspense. This film also gives a deep look at complicated human relationships. The movie develops an interesting character L.B. Jefferies, and generates a situation which is extremely suspenseful and fascinating. After loosing his strength to walk, Jefferies finds himself confined to his upper-story Manhattan apartment, starts to find to newer avenues of adventure. He starts to entertain himself by gazing out his window at the building opposite, and develops in his mind pictures of each of the inhabitants from the glimpses he catches of their lives. With every passing day, his fascination with his neighbors eventually turns into an obsession. Every aspect of their lives becomes more important to him than his own life. In his own words, he has had "six weeks sitting in a two-room apartment with nothing to do but look at the neighbors."(Hitchcock, 1954) Although he has a charming and gorgeous young girlfriend, he is found to be emotionally cool towards her, and their relationship is caught in the same stasis that paralyzes every other aspect of Jefferies life. Whenever he plunges into a deep thought to find out a proper reason for why she wouldnt make a good wife, the only fault he can find is that shes "too perfect, too talented, too beautiful, and too sophisticated."(Hitchcock, 1954) This kind of attitude actually reveals a kind of distorted psychology of those people who suddenly become impotent, and start to confine themselves in their new self made world.( Schutz, 1953; Byrd and Elliott, 1988) One day, while gazing out his window at the activities of his neighbors, Jefferies observes something that forces him to abandon the safe role that he is playing by being just a watcher – a voyeur, and he becomes a participant in the following events. He thinks that he sees one of his neighbors, Lars Thorwald, commit a murder. He has observed Lars Thorwald’s nagging wife for several days and one night he sees the man lugging around his suitcase and coming in and out of the apartment. The very next day, Jeff finds the wife of his neighbor nowhere. Jeff gets out his binoculars and begins to imagine what could have happened in his neighbor’s apartment. In his mind he builds up a story of murder where Thorwald kills his invalid wife. Then, Jeff starts to obsessively follow his self made murder story which is just a subconscious blend of suspense that has been built from only scraps of evidence. In one scene, Hitchcock very smartly shows what actually occurs in Thorwald’s apartment when Jeff is asleep. Nothing really happens, but it is a simple way of showing that protagonist is missing some possible information. Most of Rear Window is devoted to showing the viewers Jeff’s perspective. What he sees, viewers see, and viewers only get to know what he knows. The nature of voyeurism is such that background information is always lacking and one makes some crude conclusion only from what one glimpses at on the surface. At the first instance no one around Jeff gives much importance on what he thinks about what has happened in his neighbor’s house, but eventually everyone around Jeff is being sucked into his immoral curiosity of Thorwald and what he thinks about the disappearance of invalid wife of Thorwald. He watches from his wheelchair and window and infers and concludes what he can. He, of course, is unknowing of the true story, but he combines all the pieces of scenes he sees together into a big, imaginary picture. He tells his imaginary story to Stella- his nurse, a buddy detective, and Lisa. At the beginning none of them undoubtedly beliefs Jeff’s hypothesis that Thorwald killed his wife, but eventually all of them and even the viewers drawn into Jeff’s self-made story and starts to belief that Thorwald has killed his wife. But all of them fail to find out any clue that could hold Thorwald responsible of the murder. The most telling lines in the movie are after Jeff’s detective friend begins to convince them that there was no murder after all. The group immediately becomes discouraged, and Lisa scolds, "Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldnt believe what theyd see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didnt kill his wife. Were two of the most frightening ghouls Ive ever known.” (Hitchcock, 1954, Wood, 1989; Pallasmaa, 1997) If one sees the movie with adequate attention, one would find that although the film tells the story of a murder and its exposure, its central philosophical theme is actually the voyeurist gaze. The film basically talks about a complicated relationship between the watcher and the watched. Jeff"s voyeurism is not, however, a sexual perversion in its normal meaning, but more the professional curiosity of a photographer. Rear Window also philosophizes about the distance between the watcher and the watched. Distance symbolizes a sense of helplessness and loneliness, as well as a subconscious feeling of guilt associated with watching. (Nichols et al, 1999; Pallasmaa, 1997) How different philosophical and psychological aspects of human nature have been portrayed?: Portraying the idea of a casual voyeur viewing a murder is neither new nor unique, but the way Hichcock presents it is really exceptional. The setup is masterful. In the first phase of the movie spectators are given the opportunity to see not only the room and activities of Jeff, but also the rooms of Jeffs unknowing neighbors - Miss Torso, Mrs. Lonleyhearts, Thorwald and his wife, a couple who beats the heat by sleeping on a fire escape, a songwriter, the newlyweds, and a local busybody- and their humdrum activities: quarreling, gardening, exercising, talking, laughing, and crying. Along with Jeff, spectators also become curiously engaged by their personal stories. (Belton, 1991) In the second phase of the movie, the murderous act is portrayed very smartly. It is presented in such a way that initially spectators are not sure whether the crime has at all been committed or whether Jefferies, being a quite imaginative person, is just overreacting to a series of circumstances and coincidences. For the most part, viewers see only what Jefferies sees, but, one critical scene in the second phase creates confusion in viewers’ mind regarding there the reality of the event of the murder. In that scene, viewers are allowed by the director to observe an incident that occurs while Jefferies is asleep. However, during the third part of Rear Window, when Jefferies and Lisa team up to investigate the murder, Hitchcock builds up the real tension.(Belton, 1991) Excellent use of location and brilliant set design come to a great help to brilliantly portray the basic philosophical theme – voyeurism combined with obsession. Hichcock makes a superb use of location. The whole movie, bar a couple of brief scenes, is set in the apartment. The set design is wonderful. Each apartment has been set in such a way that theres a sense of individuality gone in to each home, despite the fact viewers can only see barely elements of each. The wonderful set has been complemented by a set of differing range of characters inhabiting each apartment and the movie tells about their daily lives. There’s a mini soap-opera contained in the movie, all observed at a distance. (Pomerance; Nichols et al, 1999) In many other Hitchcock’s movies voyeuristic frame has indirectly been employed to make the viewer feel like they are witnessing the events portrayed on screen. In Rear Window, however, voyeuristic framing technique is taken to an accurate level in order to enhance the emotional involvement of the viewer. In this movie Hichcock makes a wonderful presentation of explicit voyeurism and complicated human relations. He tells an exiting story through the activities of the immobile protagonist who participates in a morally dubious activity of peeping. In this movie Hitchcock creates a sense of claustrophobia that is not suffocating. Not only that, he has also been able to make an ingeniously subtle and thoughtful statement on the morality of voyeurism. Jefferies’ only means of escaping his condition is by spying on his neighbors. On a literal level, the condition he is escaping is his broken leg, which has confined him to a wheelchair. This is an especially boring situation for Jefferies, as he is very adventurous in nature. However, he is also escaping from the complications that have been aroused in his relationship with his girlfriend, Lisa Freemont. From the beginning of the movie, an apparent connection is established between his spying on his neighbors and his relationship with Lisa. An interesting to note in this context is what Jefferies sees in his attempt to escape from his problems with Lisa. All of the neighbors he chooses to watch more or less represent his own personal problems. For instance, he carefully observes each aspect of his neighbor Thorwald’s life that is plagued by a nagging, invalid wife. In a way, Jefferies regards Lisa as a nuisance, and their relationship as a threat to his own freedom. The parallel between Thorwald and Jefferies is striking. What happens in Thorwalds apartment represents, in an extreme and repugnant form, the fulfillment of Jefferies desire to be rid of Lisa . However, at the end of the movie when he confronts Thorwald, Jefferies rid himself of his fears and his hideous desire. Connections with the other tenants are less obvious, but still present. (Wood, 1989) The common elements of Jefferies’ own life and the lives of his neighbors are interesting elements of the movie, but the more fascinating elements of the story are the parallels between Jefferies and the spectators of the cinema. From this perspective, it seems that Hitchcocks motivation for using literal voyeuristic methods was to prompt the viewer to examine him or herself. Jefferies watches his neighbors to escape his problems, just as the average viewer watches movies to escape his or hers (Wood, 1989). The way Jefferies chooses apartments relevant to his problems; ordinary people pick movies that fit their own attitude towards life. Both the viewer and Jefferies are completely unaware of the strong connections between what they are watching and themselves. This represents an unconscious way of working out problems in a fantasy form. In the film, Jefferies nurse, Stella, says, "Weve become a race of Peeping Toms. People ought to get outside and look in at themselves." This seems to be the underlying theme Hitchcock sought to present in Rear Window. (Wood, 1989) Conclusion: In the end Rear Window shows the achievement of an uncomfortable relationship. None of the problems between Jefferies and Lisa have been solved, but the fact of their engagement and Jefferies back-to-window positioning indicates that progress is being made. However, the happy ending is by no means meant to suggest that things will definitely turn out well. In fact the film ends with a very delicate situation which can take any turn – positive or negative. In Rear Window, Hitchcock has remarkably told a story that does not proceed too linearly and obviously, and that has surely made this a better film. References: 1. “The Rear Window”1954. Video recording (DVD), Restored by Universal Pictures, The Hitchcock Collection. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock 2. Schutz, A. 1953. Common-Sense and Scientific Interpretation of Human Action. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 14. 3. Nichols, M.P., Schaeffer, D. and Lawler, P.A. 1999. Art and Liberalism in Hitchcocks Rear Window. Perspectives on Political Science. 28. 4. Byrd, E. K. and Elliott, T. R. 1988. Disability in full-length feature films: frequency and quality of films over an 11 year span. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research. 11(2):143-8. 5. Belton, J. 1991. The Space of Rear Window. in Raubicheck, W. and Srebnick, W. (Eds) Hitchcocks Re-Released Films. Detroit: Wayne, 1991. 6. Giannetti, L. 1997. Understanding Movies: Eighth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. 7. Pallasmaa, J. 1997. The Geometry of Terror. Viewed on 24 th May, 2008, 8. Wood, R. 1989. Hitchcocks Films Revisited. New York: Columbia. 9. Stack, P.`Rear Window Is in the Forefront Again-Restored Hitchcock classic on voyeurism. Viewed on 24th May, 2008, 10. Pomerance, M. Recuperation and Rear Window. Viewed on 24th May, 2008, . Read More