Rear Window

Rear Window was one of Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite films, and in this study of a typical case of voyeurism, he combines reflections on love and cinema. As François Truffaut notes, all the neighbours observed by Jefferies (James Stewart) have love in common: a quarrelling couple, newlyweds who spend their days in bed, a childless household that has transferred its love to a dog, a dancer who flaunts herself and whom men desire, and so on. Figures of desire or of the practice of love, who send the main character back to his own problem: will he or will he not marry Lisa (Grace Kelly)? (...) Jeff, a photojournalist used to capturing images of reality, naturally becomes a voyeur stalking those around him, even though his movements are restricted. But while Hitchcock makes sure that Jeff’s activity is judged negatively, he immediately reminds us that the spectator himself takes pleasure in watching what the character is watching and that, much worse, he observes the voyeur in full activity. This brings us back to Claude Chabrol and Eric Rohmer’s phrase (A man watches and waits, while we watch this man and await what he is waiting for), which puts the spectator in the same state of attention and expectation as the main character. (Frédéric Strauss)