Speaking of the greatest master of suspense in history, Alfred Hitchcock said that no one can say number two.
In his lifetime, he left many suspenseful masterpieces that have been passed down through the history of film, such as "Horror", "Ecstasy", "North by Northwest" and so on. As a skilled genre director, Hitchcock is best at adding suspense and thrillers to films.
Whether it is the spy war style of "Thirty-Nine Steps", the "Deep Doubt Cloud" that explores love, and the "Lonely Boat in the Angry Sea" under the background of war, they have achieved a perfect combination with suspense.
The film I'm going to talk about today is the most controversial of all Hitchcock's films, and since its release, the voice of criticism has not stopped.
It's not that the film is badly made, or that it's all mysterious for the sake of it. On the contrary, every plot point of the film is clearly presented at the end, even if it is the portrayal of the murderer, it does not leave any hints for the audience to argue (such as the fact that the case has other hidden plots).
Its biggest point of controversy comes from the perspective of the story it depicts, from the voyeurism of a man.
It is one of Hitchcock's finest works, Rear Window.
"Rear Window" is adapted from the short story of writer Cornell Woolrich, but objectively speaking, the film is much better than the original novel, the plot is richer, the character portrayal is more attractive, and it can even be said that Hitchcock injected a unique soul into the film.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > content overview</h1>
The story of "Rear Window" is actually very simple: the male protagonist Jeffrey is a photojournalist who has to recuperate at home because of an accidental leg break. Bored, he began to observe his neighbors through his window.
Because it's the height of summer, and every household has its windows open for ventilation (considering the age of the story, there are no cooling appliances such as air conditioners), so what they do is clearly seen by Jeffrey:
The young couple had just moved in and couldn't wait to make love; the lady who lived alone on the first floor couldn't find a partner and was jokingly called "lonely" by Jeffrey; the pianist's biggest hobby was playing the piano; the dancers were always walking gracefully, even when doing housework; the middle-aged couple on the third floor liked to cool off the balcony and liked to put the puppy off the hanging basket to let it play in the yard; the salesman on the second floor had a wife who was bedridden, and the two occasionally quarreled.
Of course, Jeffrey is not lonely, in addition to stella, a nurse who comes to take care of him every day, like a mother, he also has a "perfect" girlfriend Lisa. Lisa loves Jeffrey deeply and wants to get married, but Jeffrey has his own concerns - he is a person who yearns for a free life and likes to run around the world with a camera, while Lisa is a complete lady no matter how she looks, and he worries that the two will not be able to get along happily after marriage.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey discovers that one night, it's pitch black among the salesmen, and he himself is still out of the house in the heavy rain at night. The next day Jeffrey found the salesman's wife missing.
Through a series of observations and details, Jeffrey deduces that the salesman's wife was killed and that the salesman was the killer. As the plot progresses, Lisa and Stella go from not understanding what detective game he is playing at the beginning, to actively participating in the investigation of the case.
Lisa showed her extraordinary courage and won Geoffrey's admiration. And in the end, like all "clichéd" movies, the salesman ended up in the net.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > characterization</h1>
If there is anything in the "Rear Window" movie that is far beyond the original, it must be the character portrayal. The original work only appeared from beginning to end with only two characters, Jeffrey and the salesman, and more ink was also describing Jeffrey's psychological activities after finding something wrong, and there was not much psychological change curve.
In the film, Jeffrey undergoes a distinct psychological change: from the beginning of machismo, the belief that women are delicate, bitter creatures, to the end of Lisa's courage. This psychological change also makes their emotions logical and more convincing.
Lisa, as the heroine, is even more impressive. Anyone who knows Hitchcock a little knows that he has a preference for Kim, and of all the female stars he's worked with, Grace Kelly is arguably his favorite.
In the movie, Grace's Lisa has several beautiful outfits, and she is beautifully photographed every time she appears. But it was clear that Hitchcock wasn't going to make her a beautiful vase.
In the middle and late stages of the film, Lisa gradually reveals her love of adventure and non-dangerous personality traits. In particular, the part of the night salesman's house to check the situation is the most thrilling scene in the whole film, but Lisa still remains calm and shows her extraordinary courage.
Since then, she has gone from "a beautiful vase" to a "charismatic female character."
In addition to the male and female protagonists, other supporting characters, such as the loving Stella and the poisonous salesman, are also portrayed beautifully. This is Hitchcock's ability to turn decay into magic.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > plot connotations</h1>
The superficial story of "Rear Window" is about a wife murder case, but the core is actually a story about love and marriage. Whether it's Jeffrey or Jeffrey's voyeuristic neighbors, Hitchcock focuses on the weight of "love" in their lives.
The single girl who is left and right can actually see from the end that she has a boyfriend who is a soldier;
The lonely bachelor girl finally came together with the pianist upstairs, who was equally incomprehensible—because she could understand his piano;
Newlyweds also quarrel; there are also hidden murderous intentions in seemingly peaceful salesmen.
The film reflects many different views of marriage and marriage status - their own demands and emotions directly determine the happiness in marriage.
Like Jeffrey and Lisa – At first Jeffrey's portrayal of Lisa as a beautiful vase, he may like her, but far from giving up his free life for her, until Lisa shows his courage in the case, so that Jeffrey really changes her mind about her.
Another example is the salesman and his wife, in the wife's illness, his love is exhausted, and finally decided to kill this "burden". Hitchcock shows the multifaceted nature of different people in different emotional states. Aside from affirming that the salesman's wife-killing behavior was an absolute mistake, he did not make any judgment on the emotional performance of other characters.
Perhaps it is precisely because love is originally like a person drinking water, cold and warm self-knowledge.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > ending</h1>
Morality should always make way for art. Although Jeffrey's voyeuristic behavior in the movie is wrong, this is not the main point of the movie, and when evaluating this movie, it is not necessary to only grasp the point of "voyeurism" to criticize, which is itself a narrow embodiment.
The overall story of "Rear Window" is not surprising, it can be handed down as a classic, naturally has its own uniqueness. And the concept of marriage and love and their own appeals explored in the movie, how to maintain feelings, how to express themselves, even now, no one can give a perfect answer.
Maybe it is precisely because the movie can usher in a reunion ending, and life is unfathomable.