The premiere of the film adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s voyeuristic detective Rear Window took place in 1954 in Canada. The plot of the film consists of the everyday life of the main character. The photographer, L. B. Jeffries, spends the seventh week in a cast without leaving his apartment (Hitchcock, 1954). Watching the lives of people opposite is the leading entertainment of L. B. Jeffries. The fun will be replaced by obsession when Jeff begins to suspect a murderer in one of the tenants.
Jeffries watches each of his neighbors and sees how they are all contained in their space. His neighbors, the newlyweds, constantly spend time in the bedroom, but their passion is replaced by constant quarrels over time. He also sees a ballerina girl who lives alone but who is later returned to by a soldier groom whom she missed. Jeffries also sees a composer who lives in the attic and diligently writes some lyrical melody. A single middle-aged woman lives on the ground floor and does the most ordinary things. Among the neighbors, there is also an elderly couple who regularly walk their dog, which they lift and lower on a special lift (Hitchcock, 1954). And the last of the neighbors that the photographer sees is a large man who takes care of his sick wife.
As in real life, the neighbors in this film interact with each other. One of the main characters is Torwald, who takes care of his sick wife. Torwald kills an elderly couple’s dog, and based on this little tragedy, neighbors interact. In addition, a musician who composes a touching melody saves a lonely woman from the first floor. His music distracts her from suicide, and they become friends. One way or another, any interaction of neighbors is aimed at disguising the main storyline, namely the detective and its solution.
Despite a certain small number of interactions between neighbors, in general, one of the film’s themes is the isolation of neighbors from each other. The director uses different visual elements to show this isolation from each other. Each apartment is isolated from the neighbor’s apartment and is also separated by a narrow alley. Despite the presence of a courtyard, the neighbors keep their distance from each other, which, for example, is expressed in Thorwald’s recommendation to the neighbor to shut up in response to the advice of watering flowers.
Reference
Hitchcock, A. (1954). Rear Window [Film]. Paramount Pictures.