Rear window film techniques and narrative structure

Rear Window

Creating Suspense in "Rear Window"

Alfred Hitchcock is definitely the uncontestable king of creating suspense, but from all his movies, even from "Psycho," one stands out at this category. We are talking about the 1954 thriller, Rear Window. Throughout the movie the filmmaker toys with our head without us even noticing it. The plot is so simple, yet the suspense so well created, that at the end of the film the viewer remains in awe, and continues in this state for some time.

The whole movie is characterized by a feeling of uncertainty. At first it seems amusing, and then it becomes serious and frustrating, as the viewer, who is in some way involved in the action, feels helpless in that situation. The drive force for the film is actually the boredom and desire for action of a photographer, Jeff, who has broken his leg and has to stay in his apartment for a while. His main activity becomes spying on his neighbors from across the street from his rear window through the lens of the camera. The movie has only one main set, Jeff's apartment, and one main perspective. Instead of being a set back leading to claustrophobia, the enclosed backyard setting creates a feeling of being trapped in a box with danger lucking around outside. Hitchcock commented about the set saying that he would "box myself in and then figure a way out." This is one of the elements that create a feeling of tension to the viewer. He bears witness to the situation, but he is not omniscient, he is bound by the same apartment, and ends up feeling like he is bound by the same impossibility to move as the main character. This is empathy at its greatest.

Suspense springs from seeing reality through Jeff's perspective. It should also be mentioned that with a lot of subtlety his perception changes while the movie unravels more and more mystery. It is easily noticeable how good the character of the "watcher," the "voyeur" is build. He is a photographer, used to notice things, to observe what is out of place and to interpret visual images through his camera. Also, his personality is the one of an intruder. He has a strong character, treats the women in his life, at times, with contempt, thus his activities from when he is forced to stay in his apartment come natural. Jeff becomes an investigator with his camera. He is the one in the shadows at first, not the murderer. The murderer is exposed, out in the open. However, the plot evolves in such a way that Jeff becomes from the follower, the one being followed. He becomes the one exposed, as he is the one trapped in his apartment, the murderer passes now into shadow.

We hold our breath in expectation as Franz Waxman's score contributes to the tension sustaining the action and pin pointing to the most intense moments. The introspective, almost intimate, image of the film, the darkness of the movie theatre and the expressive score appeal to our senses and to our curious nature. It is not fear that the viewer feels, it is something more, like anxiousness, which is played upon so well by Hitchcock that you end up feeling disappointed together with the main characters when, at some point, it seems that the murder has not been committed and it was all a mistake.