Friday Night Flicks: Rear Window
What Chuck Berry was to rock and roll, Hitchcock was to the thriller genre; but you already knew this. We’ve all seen Psycho. The Birds. Vertigo.
Collectively, these films make up the blueprint for so much of what we - as a culture that must be kept gripping the edges of our seats in order to remain engaged - consume today. They’ve arguably contributed more to the evolution of psychological cinema more than any work by any other director, each in their own right.
However: there is a fourth film that, by most measures, barely misses out on snagging a spot in the trifecta, one that we believe is just as worthy of praise than any of the aforementioned “big three”: 1954’s Rear Window.
While still six years from Psycho, this wasn’t Hitchcock’s first rodeo (technically, it was 45th, if you include his earlier work during the silent era). But most critics agree that this is where the Hitchcock we know and love first came into full fruition.
The plot follows a lifestyle photographer who, after being confined to his apartment by a leg injury, witnesses what appears to be a murder through his rear window. The entire film is shot from and confined to the perspective of the protagonist’s (James Stewart) apartment, which, in conjunction with a bevy of experimental sound and lighting techniques, makes for what is to this day one of the most claustrophobic (but gripping!) cinematic experiences of all time. Watch it for free below. —Jackson Todd
