After breaking his leg, the photographer Jeffries is bound to a wheelchair and forced to stay inside his apartment. Besides the visits from his girlfriend Lisa and nurse Stella, one of his only diversions is watching his neighbours through the rear window. However this innocent act soon turns into voyeuristic spying, as Jeffries believes himself to have witnessed a murder. Lisa, Stella, and police detective Doyle consider this suspicion the work of an overactive imagination, but the strange behaviour of the potential murderer doesn’t leave Jeffries alone. In spite of his handicap, he does everything he can to find out what happened to his missing neighbour.
Rear Window is a prime example of how a film can generate the maximum amount of tension using a very confined space. The camera always remains inside the apartment, which lets the audience share Jeffries’ limited and voyeuristic perspective. Just like him we’re drawn into the events and come to believe his suspicion that a murder took place. Until the very end we as spectators try to piece together the evidence in order to solve the crime. Alfred Hitchcock proved himself the master of suspense with this masterpiece. The final act in particular has lost nothing of its intense excitement.
