Rear Window works extremely well as a suspense thriller and ultimately as a movie because it is purely cinematic. It defines why we go to the movies. We are enraptured and perhaps even trapped in its web of storytelling. The themes and content of this movie are explored in a voyeuristic fashion, both literally and figuratively. We are forced to become voyeurs spying on a voyeur and spying on all the people he spies on as well. The framing of images traps us and we are forced not only to look at others but to look within ourselves. The people we spy on mirror all of our lives in some way or another. In this film, Alfred Hitchcock explores themes of isolation, imprisonment, and relationships. He does so quite visually and concisely, every image specific and meaningful. I imagine I will find new details on each and every future viewing of the film.
It's evident how concise of a director Hitchcock is by the very first sequence. He shows us a sweaty Jimmy Stewart, pans the courtyard outside his window, introducing us to his neighbors, frames a temperature dial revealing the intense heat, then the cast on the leg of James Stewart that reads, "Here lie the broken bones of L.B. Jeffries", his broken camera, photos of race cars, a negative of Grace Kelly, and then the same picture on the cover of a fashion magazine. Within the first two minutes of the film, we know L.B. Jeffries, our protagonist, is a sporting photographer with a broken leg pissed about not being able to take pictures with a beautiful fashion model for a girlfriend. With no words. What might take a less efficient film maker fifteen minutes of exposition to divulge, Hitchcock does in a matter of minutes with no dialogue.
We are soon introduced to the cast of characters and the inner conflict of the piece. What Jeff is most afraid of is being trapped by marriage. He calls his girlfriend "all right" and talks to Stella, his insurance company nurse, about his lack of desire for marriage.