Rear Window

It had been way too long since I last saw an Alfred Hitchcock film and this needed to change! Whether you love his work, like I do, or not, he is still one of the most influential filmmakers but only a few have come close to matching the mark he left on cinema. Unfortunately it seems these days that the various streaming services rarely offer films from any later than the 1970s and even that collection is limited which is a crying shame as it is almost restricting new generations from immediately finding something as great as 1954's Rear Window.

This stars James Stewart as a photographer who broke his leg during a motorsport event while trying to get the perfect shot and now finds himself confined to his New York apartment in Greenwich during a hot summer. However, things take a turn for the interesting when he notices one of his neighbours has gone missing and been potentially murdered. He also has Grace Kelly for company so life could be worse.

Coincidentally I rewatched this while being bed-bound due to an illness but instead of a hot summer it was a cold winter and I had a cat for company instead of Grace Kelly. Moving on, this is one of Hitchcock's most accessible films; the man has made many classics but some take time to get into. Rear Window is probably the best example when explaining what made the director so successful. The story is simple yet engaging, the cast are excellent while supported from a sharp-witted screenplay, the visuals are stunning and the story mixes elements of the macabre but the director keeps the mood light with a brilliant touch of dark humour. This is classic Hitchcock.

There are some films which work best when only viewed once but Hitchcock's collection has aged better than a fine wine. Granted this could never be made today as Hollywood and the world itself has changed, or the film would at least be very different with a modern touch, but there is a timeless quality to Rear Window which I loved even more than the last time. Stewart and Kelly's chemistry is fantastic and I really can't say enough how entertaining, as well as engaging, this film truly is. I say the story is simple but that's only at surface level because Hitchcock has carefully constructed this to the point it seems effortless.

While at university I did study many of Hitchcock's films and this can be very rewarding for film buffs but even a casual viewer can still marvel at something like Rear Window. This deserves its long-standing reputation as one of the best films from the last century and is just as great today. I can't recommend this enough, and it has left me hungry to watch more films from Alfred Hitchcock. Here's hoping to more classics appearing on streaming platforms that could inspire future filmmakers.