October 27, 2022
Our in class viewing of Rear Window seemed like it would be the most boring thing ever, but it turned out to fully grab my attention.
In my high school film class, we studied Alfred Hitchcock and how he was a master of suspense. At the beginning of the movie, I was confused what the suspense was supposed to be. It seemed like a love story, which didn't seem on par with what Hitchcock tried to accomplish in his films. Now at the midpoint of the movie, I can see why he gained that title.
The suspense that Hitchcock builds in the murder case is phenomenal. He seems like he sat down and figured out every single detail that would make the viewer on the edge of their seat. I also appreciated how he is able to build that suspense with one singular setting the entire movie. If someone explained that the whole movie was set in the same apartment prior to watching this film, I would have been like "no way am I going to sit through that." Hitchcock really covered all bases in the suspense category to be able to keep attention on the film when viewers are looking at the same neighbors the entire movie.
An issue I have with older movies is how to actors/actresses speak. I have a hard time understanding what they are saying because it sounds like mumbling. At times I felt like that, but I feel like I understood the most important parts. Even though I had an issue with that, I understand that sound at the time was not as advanced as it is today.
I actually just saw a movie in theaters last weekend, so seeing how far film has come is truly amazing. The film I saw was called Smile and, ironically, it also relied on suspense. I could see some of Hitchcock's influence in the film with aspects of suspense. One thing that Hitchcock truly believed was to show the viewer something the character is unaware of. This happened in Smile several times.
Another thing I picked up on was some of the symbolism in the movie thus far. The different characters wear different colors to represent themselves. The woman that went on dates with herself was seen in green because she was envious of people in love. The ballet dancer wore white because she was seen as pure and energetic. I also noticed that every time L.B. itched himself, it followed a major event happening. It seemed as if the itch he physically had trouble scratching represented the "itch" he had to figure out what was going on with the salesman.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next in the movie and it seems, just like L.B., that I have an itch I need to scratch and figure out what happens.
Here is the link to the Smile trailer in case my blog post inspired you to look up the film.