rear window (2 Viewers)

[akashcbf]

anyone know any techniques in the film and the genres subversions im kinda struggling.thanks.

 

[H@NN@K*]

Hey I think I can help you a little.......
You can talk about Hitchcock's concept of Voyuerism ( people watching other people), and how he's hinting that we as viewers are voyueristic.
You can also talk bout how all the people in the courtyard are connected.
Umm theres also the red herring (the lady leaving thorwalds apartment).
Umm the use of the telescopic lens (sexuality and voyuerism).
Lisa's over night bag (sexual references)

umm theres afew more but yeah
Hope these help

 

[Bulldog4lyf]

I agree with the above viewer, you should focus on sexual innuendo and voyuerism. They are the best concepts to focus on, given that I've only seen the film twice; I have a copy but...meh.

 

[phelliphell]

i know this is going to sound very menial.. but is rear window considered hard-boiled or post modernist or ..? lol

 

[keen to leave]

i know this is going to sound very menial.. but is rear window considered hard-boiled or post modernist or ..? lol

did you ever get an answer to this?? do you know yet!! i really need to know hah!

 

[SSRabbitohs2009]

The way my class looked at it was that it had characteristics of the 'Golden Age' what with the inexperienced (and in this case, ill-equipped due to his broken leg) detective (+ symbolism of the camera as a weapon [?] )
But, we also looked at some hardboiled conventions in there, too.

My gosh, this is taking me way back... :S

 

[57o1i]

We looked at it in terms of its adherence to and subversion of hardboiled conventions and its use of the crime genre as a vehicle to other focuses eg social commentary. And the themes of voyeurism and the construction of Jeff and his camera as a gateway character for an audience who spy on people in the same way that Jeff does.

Genre subversions ... the immobile detective watching impotently (symbolic of his sexual frustrations perhaps?) from the sidelines while others do the work for him and the questioning of the validity of the detective process ("we're a race of peeping toms"). Other interesting features are the scenes in the windows reflecting Jeff's subconscious desires (eg the newlywed couple, and the murder of Mrs Thorwald reflect his repressed and conflicted feelings about his relationship with Lisa) and the way the set dominates the film, creating an enclosed and claustrophobic feel and leaving the audience with a fixed gaze.

But I ended up writing on Real Inspector Hound and Anil's Ghost, so I never had to worry much about distilling these thoughts into an essay. Hitchcock isn't my thing, unfortunately.

 

[keen to leave]

oh ok yeh i can definately see the hard-boiled conventions.
would/could it also be considered cozy or whodunit??

 

[57o1i]

oh ok yeh i can definately see the hard-boiled conventions.
would/could it also be considered cozy or whodunit??

I'd consider whodunit to be more relevant than cozy in Rear Window's case. But then again it's not really a whodunit because we know who the criminal is, we're just not sure that a crime occurred, no? So maybe this is another case where it would be good to talk about the subversion of the subgenre if you want to go with it.

 

[alcalder]

Is it hard-boiled conventions? They probably are NOW (since everyone seems to refer to Rear Window in this sort of thing) but Hitchcock was reknowned for being ground breaking. He probably wrote the book of hard-boiled conventions.

 

[57o1i]

Is it hard-boiled conventions? They probably are NOW (since everyone seems to refer to Rear Window in this sort of thing) but Hitchcock was reknowned for being ground breaking. He probably wrote the book of hard-boiled conventions.

It was more Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler who wrote the book on hardboiled conventions, so to speak, in the 1920s and 30s, way before Hitchcock made Rear Window. Rear Window is often discussed within the framework of that subgenre because it was a popular aspect of crime fiction at the time but Hitchcock did like to do things differently, which is why when talking about Rear Window it's important to note the many differences between that film and the subgenre. For example the detective figure is not the conventional hardboiled hero - compare Jeff to Chandler's Marlowe and you see two very different characters. The use of setting and even the crime itself (domestic murder as opposed to gangland killings, drug crime, kidnappings etc) don't fit the pattern for hardboiled stories.

Personally I don't think Hitchcock was trying to make his film adhere to any particular subgenre, rather he was indulging his own artistic vision. Plus, even though Hitchcock ended up in Hollywood, he was a British filmmaker and so he may have been less concerned with the hardboiled subgenre than American directors like Howard Hawks (who made The Big Sleep), since hardboiled was primarily an American trend.