Families can talk about how rear window shows the alienation of urban life, about people living on top of one another in highrises, yet remaining strangers. Indochina is better known as vietnam these days, and they forced the colonial french to surrender a few months before rear window opened. Like in rear window, we only see through kales shia labeouf perspective. Bbc my life in film episode 1rear window full episode. As demonstrated by rear window, hitchcock can transform what may seem like a mundane way to film a moviethrough a window in a limited space in a single apartment roominto a work of suspenseful art. Analysis of themes in rear window essay 1436 words. Rear window hitchcock made a career out of indulging our voyeuristic tendencies, and he never excited them more skilfully, or with more gleeful selfawareness, than in rear. If you look closely in one of the shots looking at the musicians pad you can see hitchcock making a cameo like he does in all his movies. With kris marshall, andrew scott, alice lowe, sophie hunter. Hitchcock made a career out of indulging our voyeuristic tendencies, and never.
Alfred hitchcocks 1954 film rear window is an adaptation of cornell woolrichs 1942 short suspense story it had to be murder. Set design the set is designed to give you an easy map to follow of their surroundings. Rear window proves that theres no need to rush at 160 miles per hour to make a good thriller. In rear window, what is unique about the use of sound. Actor christopher reeve, himself paralyzed as a result of a 1995 horseriding accident, was cast in the lead role. Rear window was the first instance of this diegetic approach in a film, lending to hitchcocks tendency towards innovative filmmaking practices. In a playful bit of selfanalysis, hitchcock wrote in the new york times that his motives for inserting himself into his films were devious, or, if you prefer a more devious word, sinister. But their involvement in his life is also limited to how much he wants them around. Rear window is a 1954 american technicolor mystery thriller film directed by alfred hitchcock and written by john michael hayes based on cornell woolrichs 1942 short story it had to be murder. Some of the shows humour is derived from the deliberate adaptation of these films to everyday settings, leading to preposterous results.
My life in film was a short comedy series about the life of a selfstyled independent low budget film maker whose adventures whilst looking for inspiration for his new screenplay took on certain tropes off films that had previously explored the genre. Until then, he spends his time making low budget films, working in a cinema and. My life in film rear window tv episode 2004 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. How does hitchcock use rear window to define gender. And there are a lot of cinematic elements at play in rear window that help put audiences into the role. Rear window by alfred hitchcock the scene in the film rear window was about the community and the protagonist named l. Women have to care for him constantly they tend to his meals, keep his house, and eventually help him solve the murder. Jeffries, a world traveling magazine photographer accustomed to living a. It uses iconography, situations and dialogue from films.
Rear window is an american suspense film released in 1954 and directed by alfred hitchcock, a man who is commonly known by his pen name william irish. The deliciousness of watching the film as its intended to be seen is that the big screen gives rear window back its claustrophobia. My life in film rear window tv episode 2004 on imdb. Rear window is a 1998 american madefortelevision crimedrama thriller film directed by jeff bleckner. Drawing heavily from his own life chappell also worked in a cinema my life in film followed arts daytoday struggles as he, plus flatmate and fellow visionary jones, do their best to achieve. Jeff gets a voyeuristic thrill out of secretly intruding into peoples privacy, and the film raises but doesnt answer the question of whether or not thats crossing a moral line. Film and music submitted by jess19 words 1050 pages 5.
Rear window is a suspenseful tale about hal jeffries, a temporarily disabled man, who becomes obsessed with watching the lives of his urban neighbors. My life in film is a british television situationcomedy series written by mark chappell and originally aired on bbc three, and then on bbc two. To pass the time between visits from his nurse thelma ritter and his fashion model girlfriend lisa grace kelly, the binocularwielding jeffries stares through the rear window of his apartment at the goingson in the other apartments around his courtyard. Seated in a chair by his rear window, jeffries believes story by cornell woolrich. My life in film is a forgotten comedy from the bbc originally broadcast in 2004 and starred kris marshall from my family as art, an aspiring screenwriter. Jeffries james stewart is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. The main character, played by james stewart, has a broken leg in plaster courtesy of hitchcock at the end of the film he has both legs broken. For all intents and purposes, rear window is a film about voyeurism, so it makes sense that hitchcocks approach to the film would be to force audiences to become voyeurs. All through the film we can hear sounds and voices from these apartments in the distance, carefully balanced to sound realistic and as would be the case in real life none too clear. Editing makes a masterpiece no film school gives us a clipheavy look at rear window s editing.
This essay will try to give an overview of two interpretations of rear window, both of which focus on the gaze and voyeurism of the movie, and both of which can be situated to a greater or lesser extent within a psychoanalytic context. In fact, the whole reason he ended up in the wheelchair was strolling out onto a racetrack to shoot pictures of the cars. Rear window 1954 is an intriguing, brilliant, macabre hitchcockian visual study of obsessive human curiosity and voyeurism. The film is based on the film it had to be murder, a 1942 short story by cornell woolrich fawell 2. Full of tension and suspense, standout performances from james stewart and grace kelly make this film a mustwatch for hitchcock fans. The claustrophobic film echoes hitchcock experiments like rear window and lifeboat one limited location and rope also told in real time. Screenwriting tips from a classic heres a really insightful look at why the script for rear window works so well. I have wormed my way into my own pictures as a spy. I doubt rear window will have much of a life in the video stores, with the classic blueprint right nextdoor on the shelf, and though a wellintentioned bit of hollywood hooey, its hooey indeed. Not only about the neighborhood but also the protagonist. Jeff and his motivations are a big part of this movies intrigue.
But this particular kind of cinematography not only shows just how brilliant jeff is, it shows just how brilliant hitchcock was as a director. Woolrichs stories have been adapted into over 30 films, but there is no doubt that rear window is the most wellknown of all of them. In rear window, jeff is not a moralist, a policeman or a dogooder, but a man who likes to look. Rear window is a fantastic alfred hitchcock classic, definitely one of his best films. Rear window was remade as a television movie of the same name in 1998, with an updated storyline in which the lead character is paralyzed and lives in a hightech home filled with assistive technology. Y to promote rear window film journal international 2000 clear window. Witness lisa, aghast at her boyfriends proclivities until she, too, becomes hooked on the sordid little drama unfolding before them. Or, to put it more simply, it was a skillful parody of six wellknown films set in everyday suburbia, with a narrative working over the. Hitchcock also uses the trope of the damaged man throughout rear window, as the film s protagonist is lame and unable to move. Carusos disturbia 2007 is almost identical to rear window a teen living under house arrest becomes convinced that his neighbor is a serial killer.
Rear window by alfred hitchcock lisas study guides. Art thinks the beautiful girl in the flat opposite his flat has been killed by her husband, just like in hitchcocks classic rear window. Rear window is a film about indiscretion, about intimacy violated and taken by surprise at its most wretched moments. Watch my life in film season 1, episode 2 rear window. John michael hayes screenplay was based on cornell woolrichs with penname william irish original 1942 short story or novelette, it had to be murder. Ending spoiler for rear window 1954, plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. My life in film rear window tv episode 2004 company. The teleplay by larry gross and eric overmyer is an updated adaptation of the classic 1954 film of the same name directed by alfred hitchcock which was based on the short story it had to be murder by cornell woolrich. Rear window doesnt totally condemn jeffs voyeurism because it knows we all share it. Theres something unwholesome about obsessively spying on your neighbors from the rear window, even if it does lead to a killers capture. My life in film is a forgotten comedy from the bbc originally broadcast in 2004 and starred kris marshall from my family and the bt.
Art fancies the girl next door and watches her with a zoom lens from his bedroom. Mark chappells my life in film revolved around an ingenious conceit. As a photographer, he has to compose images for a living. Hitchcocks additions to the original story, yet loyalty to. Analysis of themes in rear window essay 1436 words 6 pages fear of marriage and voyeurism in rear window in alfred hitchcocks 1954 classic thriller rear window, jimmy stewart stars as l. Originally released by paramount pictures, the film stars james stewart, grace kelly, wendell corey, thelma ritter, and raymond burr.
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