Dwilder’s review published on Letterboxd:
Rear Window is one of the most highly regarded suspense features ever made and is certainly one of the great Alfred Hitchcock’s best. Part of this is down to how clever the scenario is in itself which in truth it is. However this is not enough to sustain it but writer John Michael Hayes ensures that the entire tale unfolds over a large degree of time with the suspense being built up very gradually. All of the interactions between the characters are slightly mundane to begin with this is necessary as it lulls us into a false sense of security and means we are shocked when things finally kick into gear. The lives of all the characters seen through the window are surprisingly fully fledged as we begin to really connect with them and then eventually this narrows down to just focusing on main character Jeff’s suspicions. There are also nice little comedic touches and interactions in the screenplay that mean we as an audience are always fully engaged and interested in what is happening.
From a Direction perspective Rear Window is one of Hollywood and Hitchcock’a greatest achievements. The manner in which Hitchcock builds the tension is extraordinary. There is very little incidental music with “diegetic” sounds used ingeniously to generate suspense throughout the feature. I also really liked the whole design of the other windows whereby they look like screens which brilliantly heightens the level of voyeurism on display here and really makes us feel uncomfortable as we feel part of the action. Hitchcock cleverly uses POV shots and with such a bold voyeuristic approach every time Jeff is spotted or comes close to it we feel complicit in his actions and this is an incredible achievement by Hitchcock to achieve this. Once the story gets going and the action gets more intense we as an audience feel incredibly uncomfortable and gripped by what we are seeing and this proves how accomplished and innovative as a filmmaker Hitchcock was.
On top of this the set design itself is an incredible technical wonder. Set designers Hal Pereira and Joseph MacMillan Johnson spent weeks creating the elaborate block of apartments on the Paramount set and their attention to detail is utterly extraordinary. This really has to go down as one of the greatest sets ever designed and for the purposes of a film.
The acting is also incredible here and vital to the success of the picture. James Stewart shows his credentials as a leading man with an outstandingly gripping display of paranoia and boredom which eventually shows itself as determination to bring down this man he is convinced has murdered his wife and he is supported well by Grace Kelly who is utterly mesmerising here by his side. Thelma Ritter is brilliant as well at releasing the tension. Her natural cynical charisma coming through wonderfully here.
To conclude, Rear Window is an exceptionally successful and original cinematic experiment which although copied has never been bettered. The acting, writing and incredible set design all combine with the vision of possibly cinema’s greatest Director and certainly one of the most innovative to create this tense, claustrophobic and endlessly fascinating masterclass in building tension.
