Rear Window Movie Analysis

đź“ŚCategory: Entertainment, Movies
đź“ŚWords: 953
đź“ŚPages: 4
đź“ŚPublished: 30 March 2022

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 McCarthy era film, Rear Window follows an unethical society with the absence of morals and compassion. Not many characters throughout the film behave ethically or morally. Rear Window brings to light the inherent fears and limitations present in relationships, particularly marriage. In a post-war society, Hitchcock claims, ethics is less common. McCarthyism is represented in Rear Window, which depicts a lack of sympathy and distrust among the courtyard residents. Ethical refers to relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these. Morality is being concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour. Hitchcock portrays morality as a phenomenon not followed by many.

Rear Window highlights the fundamental concerns and constraints that exist in all relationships, including marriage. Hitchcock provides an excess of marriages between men and women that displays Jefferies' moral dilemma of marrying Lisa. In doing this Hitchcock seeks to expose Jefferies to several possibilities. The couple on the balcony do not seem to have many marital problems, merely the fact that they sleep together outside on the balcony. When Thorwald is taking care of his wife the viewer can see her being unsatisfied with him representing Jefferies’s view of the “nagging wife”. Wives demand and pester their husbands to get what they want instead of asking. This scene acts as evidence that support’s Jefferies' argument. Moreover, portraying it as moral is based on life experience and perceptions of other people. Jefferies' viewpoint may be unethical but the event of Thorwald and his wife helps him to justify his opinion. An ethical and moral person would value relationships and love those around them. Jefferies' conversation with Stella near the beginning shows his scepticism of marriage and presents the viewers with his immorality. He states that Lisa is “too perfect” and “everything but what I want”. Jeff’s cynicism in this scene shows that his beliefs are outdated and unethical regarding marriage and Lisa as a character. Through Jefferies, Hitchcock illustrates a view of marriage that is both outdated and unethical, exposing that not all characters are moral. 

Hitchcock suggests that ethics is less frequent in a post-war society. Individuals are too busy minding other people’s business they forget about their own. What people “ought to do” is “look in for a change”. The absence of ethics is shown as problematic and harmful, evidently what leads to Thorwald murdering his wife. There should be mutual respect of privacy between neighbours for it to be moral, something that Jefferies takes for granted and disregards. Jefferies voyeurism exposes the ethical problems within society at the time. Hitchock utilises lighting as a way to express unethical practices. Light and dark, bright and shadows are often used to show good and evil, however, Rear Window blurs this distinction, therefore, making the audience question the morality of the characters. Jefferies is always shrouded in shadows when he engages in voyeuristic acts. When Jefferies sees the musician get frustrated with his music the lighting in Jefferies apartment is dim and shadowy. The background is blurred. This expresses that Jefferies's actions are not ethical but he is beyond the point of realising. Towards the end when Jeff starts to question the morality of his situation Lisa replies “I’m not much on rear window ethics”. Lisa herself is not sure if what they are doing is ethical. It is not as simple as good or bad in this instance it is one of voyeurism.  Hitchcock portrays that few characters behave morally or ethically, leading to an untrustworthy society. 

The rear window shows a lack of compassion and distrust in the courtyard. This is symbolic of McCarthyism which is shown by the neighbours accusing each other of treason and behaving in unethical ways. Hitchcock creates an atmosphere of the loss of these things by his use of a camera. The camera is from Jeff’s point of view and chooses what it wants to focus on therefore showing the absence of empathy along with the clear evidence of scepticism between the neighbours in the courtyard. Through the camera this distrust becomes apparent. When the woman created the sculpture entitled “hunger” the camera pans down to show this. The statue itself is symbolic as it represents the eagerness of the apartment block to have more. This is a significant moment as it expresses the types of events Jefferies focuses on. Many of the neighbours don’t talk to each other often, one of the times that they do is when the woman from the balcony exposes what neighbours are supposed to do “speak to each other” and “care” about things going on in an individual's lives.  She exposes the fact that “none of you does”. The camera is on a low angle looking up at her but then pans down to a close up of Miss Lonelyhearts showing that she does care. Her expression is sad and concerned as she looks up at the balcony. By doing this, Hitchcock expresses that although many neighbours of the courtyard have lost compassion and developed distrust, there is still hope. Miss Lonelyhearts is alone and dismal therefore she can empathise with the woman on the balcony. The only person who did not come to the window was Thorwald displaying his lack of empathy and doubt in his fellow neighbours. The sculpture lady shooing the dog away from Thorwald’s garden expresses the distrust between the neighbours. Even a dog can not dig in a garden without being stopped, especially Thorwalds. The camera in that instance was looking down to illustrate how Jefferies views himself above this lady and the dog. Hitchcock exposes the lack of empathy and increase of distrust in the McCarthy era, in turn portraying morality as an occasional mishap. 

Rear Window depicts an unethical world devoid of values and compassion. Morality is shown by Hitchcock as a concept that few people follow. In a post-war society, Hitchcock claims, ethics is less common. Rear Window explores the underlying difficulties and restrictions that all relationships, including marriage, face. McCarthyism is represented in Rear Window, by depicting a lack of sympathy and distrust among the courtyard residents. Ultimately, Hitchcock seeks to shine a light on morality and how it plays into many scenes of the film.

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