With the onslaught of new technologies, primarily television, in full force during the 1950's, the American public were introduced to a whole new form of advertisement. This new method of entertainment, gave life to the ever so unrealistic idealism that took the nation by storm. "Television portrayed a wonderfully antiseptic world of idealized homes in an idealized, unflawed America" (Halberstam, 508). The new American expectation was that the dad had a steady job and the wife cooked, cleaned and took care of their perfect well behaved children. Released in 1954, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, serves as an inside look into the male psyche and the truth behind the 'perfect' institution of 1950's marriage. Viewed from the perspective of the injured L.B Jefferies, an action photographer, the characters in Jeff's rear window serve as a representation of what he thinks he will give up, have to deal with, and what he will suffer through if he were to get married.
The majority of Hitchcock's film is portrayed from the vantage point of Jeff. This allows the viewer to relate to the main character and to see what he sees every step of the way. Early on the film, the male obsession with beautiful women is brought to the viewers attention. First with two women walking out onto a balcony to tan and next with 'Miss Torso' who is getting dressed and making breakfast while practicing her ballet. Jefferies has a beautiful women of his own in the form of Lisa Fremont, a socialite designer who is very obviously in love with L.B Jefferies. However Jefferies claims that "She's too perfect, she's too talented, she's too beautiful, she's too sophisticated, she's too everything but what I want" (Hitchcock).
Contrary to the idealism present in America during the release of the film, L.B Jefferies considers marriage to be a sort of death sentence. When reflecting on his possible marriage to Lisa, he pictures it as "rushing home to a hot apartment every night to listen to the automatic laundry, the electric dishwasher, the garbage disposal and a nagging wife" (Hitchcock). Through his rear window, Jeff observes several married couples and does not like what he sees. He also observes a woman that he nicknames 'Miss Lonelyhearts', who is a depiction of the bitter old man he may become if doesn't succumb to the institution of marriage.
brought with him a distinctive and recognizable style that better defines him as an auteur. Instead of using recycled plots and overused Classic Hollywood Cinema shooting techniques, Hitchcock emphasized style over story. One of his best films, Rear Window, captures his stylistic ingenuity by portraying all of his techniques on the big screen for everyone to view. Hitchcock is best known for his use of suspense in which he creates throughout the entire movie in order to build to that one moment where…
threat because he’s unable to perform his regular day to day tasks; therefore it is up to Lisa to look after him. Hence, he feels less masculine because there’s a shift in the traditional roles (the man would be taking care of the woman but in Rear Window the woman is taking care of the man). And as a consequence he verbally abuses her and rejects her affections in attempts to control her. This leads Lisa to try and prove herself to Jeff by adjusting to his lifestyle and an example is (wearing less…
within his film ‘Rear Window’. The three major concepts include; voyeurism, gender roles and loss of community. Hitchcock heavily applies these social and cultural conditions throughout the movie, conditions that have found themselves to possess a strong enduring relevance, even from the 1950’s until this very day in the 21st century. From the very start of the film, we are immediately introduced to the idea of voyeurism, with Hitchcock using a zooming out shot through the window of Jeff’s apartment…
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, the beginning of the movie shows a focus on how the narrative encourages the viewer to fill in gaps about the past and anticipate the future of events in the story with foreshadowing and plants. The first scenes of the movie show events happening outside of Jeff’s window that give the viewer information they need to follow along as the story plays out. It starts out by showing the temperature being very hot outside and what is happening in the windows of all the neighbors…
USU1330 Creative Arts – Spring 2014 WORKSHEET #4: Rear Window SUBMISSION DATE: Friday April 11th Rear Window (1954) is one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s most successful and well-known films. Upon its initial release it was both a critical and commercial success and its reputation as one of the Hitchcock’s masterpieces has grown over the decades since. In a recent AFI (American Film Institute) poll, Rear Window came in at #42 on the list of the 100 greatest films ever made with three other…
Fear of Marriage and Voyeurism in Rear Window In Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic thriller Rear Window, Jimmy Stewart stars as L.B. Jeffries, a world traveling magazine photographer accustomed to living a fast pace active lifestyle. When Jefferies injures himself taking a risky picture he is immobilized, confined to a wheelchair inside his apartment for two months. Bored with his uneventful life he becomes completely obsessed with the lives of his neighbors spending the majority of his…
Sound is everywhere. It is part of our everyday lives and our interactions and definitely a part of film. Sound, especially dialogue, makes it easier to understand what is happening. But it also provides texture and emotion to each scene. Though most moviegoers might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we cannot underestimate the importance of sound and music in film. Most movies would not be interesting at all if you were to take away the sound and music. Sound enables the director…
Assignment Like Mulvey, Modleski analysed Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954). However Modleski came to the conclusion that “Jeff himself – and, by extension, the male film viewer – is forced to identify with the woman” (2004: 858). Compare Modleski’s interpretation to Mulvey’s original essay. Renowned director Alfred Hitchcock has often been accused of having a negative attitude in his portrayal of female characters in many of his films. His 1954 classic, “Rear Window (1954)” has drawn particular attention…
Alfred Hitchcock films; Psycho, The Birds, North by Northwest, I enjoy his work because I like the suspense, and visual effects that he was able to accomplish. Out of all of his films, I believe that my favorite Hitchcock films would have to be Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958), because I think that the two incorporate everything that is “Alfred Hitchcock”. Hitchcock films are known for being mysterious, cynical, as well as suspenseful and they are all similar because of his use of symbolism…
jarring music that complement perfectly to the scene both diegetic and non-diegetic like Psychos screeching shower theme and Rear Windows street sounds. The ideology he encompasses within his films and his love for blondes was also apparent “Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints. ” (Hitchcock) from Grace Kelly in Rear Window (1954) to Kim Novak in Vertigo (1958) and many more. Film in general is voyeuristic, the audience submissively watches these…
