SEQUENCE ANALYSIS: REAR WINDOW

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    This sequence occurs in the third part of the movie from 95:11 to 102:06 and is indisputably one of the most important scenes in Rear Window. The sequence began right after the protagonist Jeff, his girlfriend 麗莎 and the nurse Stella set off to investigate the courtyard of Mr. Thorvald, who they suspected killed his wife and hid her body underneath the flower patch. Thorvald was lured out of his apartment by a telephone call by Jeff beforehand. So in this scene, 麗莎, contrary to what Jeff expected, climbed up the fire escape into Thorvald’s apartment and began searching. Jeff, as he always have been, sat in front of the window and observed. In this process, Stella returned to Jeff’s apartment. She and Jeff together found out that Mr. Lonely Heart was committing suicide, which eventually convinced them to call the police. Just as they were distracted by this incident, Thorvald returned and caught 麗莎 in his apartment. Just as he was assaulting 麗莎, the police arrived timely. Thorvald blamed 麗莎 for robbery and had her taken away by the police. In the very end of this sequence, while 麗莎 was showing off the wedding ring she discovered across the buildings to Jeff. Thorvald found out the location of Jeff and stared with a threating look.
    This sequence marks the transformation of the romantic relationship between 麗莎 Fremont and L.B. Jefferies . The heroine, displayed in her beautiful fashion dresses to deliver visual satisfaction to the audience throughout the movie, was ironically not noticed by the male protagonist Jeff, who she tried so hard to impress. Their relationship was in trouble and was barely maintained by the 麗莎’s one-sided effort until this incident. In the sequence, Jeff saw 麗莎 through the frame of the rear window, as if spectators in the auditorium seeing the characters. This specific analogy of the spectator-spectacle opposition in Rear Window highlights the her exhibitionistic desires: she willingly became the erotic object both for audience within the diegesis---Jeff, as well as for audience outside the diegesis.
    Expectedly, just as most of the mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, this sequence exemplified the classic Hollywood convention by showing the female character being punished. Trespassing the space between the 「audience seat」 and the spectacle, 麗莎 fulfilled her exhibitionist desire and eventually grabbed the attention of Jeff. In consequence, she endangered herself and was assaulted by the murderer. By having her endangered and eventually saved by man, Hitchcock followed the classic Hollywood paradigm, in which the woman, in her attempt to fulfill her sexual desires or display herself, is always investigated, punished or saved by male. This classic Hollywood convention in early years of cinema development applied perfectly to Rear Window, objectifying and disempowering women as if they are pure spectacles.
    However, if we take a close look at the formal elements of this sequence, we will have a more thorough understanding of Jeff’s voyeurism and the danger it entailed. By hiding himself behind the window frame, Jeff occupied a presumably convenient and safe position to spy on his neighbors. He considered himself invisible from the outside and blatantly indulged in the pleasure of looking. However, from this sequence and the interaction of him and 麗莎 across the building, this sequence revealed his visibility from outside. The second when someone realized his physical presence, just as 麗莎 and Stella knew he was there all along, he was easy to detect even though he tried hiding himself in the shadow. In the last scene, his visibility was further confirmed when Thorvald detected him and threated his life. Therefore, Hitchcock is warning the audience of the duality of spectator and spectacle, and the uncertainty of being observed without noticing that. The audience should also be reminded of the space between them and scenes, the danger of trespassing. On the other hand, when 麗莎 was endangered, Jeff’s helplessness reflected the cruel facts that spectators cannot literally control what happens on screen. In a sharp contrast, the exhibitionist on the other side, 麗莎, though the objectified and disempowered, can still have control over herself and express her exhibitionistic desires. Therefore, Hitchcock is pointing out both the vulnerability and helplessness of spectators in front of the cinema, even compared to the victimized female character. Especially, he noted that fact that most of them don』t even realize how they exposed themselves in danger with their voyeurism obsession and their attempt to intervention.
Shot-by-shot analysis:
    To notice beforehand, The entire sequence prominently used cross-cutting to build up the suspension. By interchangeably showing Jeff or people on the other side, the film depicted two serials of actions happened simultaneously but largely interconnected. Because there』re multiple cuts within each one each, in my shot analysis, I won』t divide between shots each time they, but will analyze the major shots and their functions within the sequence.
Shot 1 (95:11-95:50): Shot 1’s tracking motion of 麗莎 and Stella climbing into Thorvald’s courtyard. The high-angle camera position was realistic based on Jeff’s view point from the higher position. It also served as an establishing shot of the courtyard.
Shot 2 (95:51-96:38): Shot two was a medium shot of Jeff calling Mr. Doyle for help. Although lighting hid his face, he was centered in the middle of the frame, as well as the telephone behind him. The mise-en-scene hinted the importance of this call by shedding the focus of light on it. Meanwhile, there were three cutaways, presenting how Jeff’s random look: two times to Stella and 麗莎 (96:08, 96:24) and one time to the empty room of the ballerina (96:18). Jeff’s constant look at the ballerina indicated his desire for beautiful spectacle, his ignorance of 麗莎 when she’s beside him marked his irrational voyeurism obsession.
Shot 3 (96:40-97:20): Camera changed position to the right side, exact the side Jeff is looking out. The 180 degree rule matched the eye-lines of Jeff looking out and 麗莎 looking back, immersing the viewers in the action and promoting identification with Jeff. Moreover, this shot was significant by its portrayal of Jeff behind the window frame, in the eyes of 麗莎. His visibility was revealed in a subtle way, especially when 麗莎 waved to him and he waved back, suggesting the possibility of interaction across the space. The scene soon cut to the pianist (96:42-96:45), and Ms. Lonely Heart’s apartment (96:51-96:59). Rapid interchanging in different settings represented editing based on realistic perspective, and vividly depicted Jeff’s active spying on his neighbors.
Shot 4 (97:06-97:23): This shot was established through Jeff’s telephoto lens. Followed by a disoriented searching of the cafeteria and across the ground floor, a close-up of the anxious Stella showed up in the center of the frame. She shock her head to indicate that nothing was found under the flower patch. Their interaction was significant in that it broke the impermeable space between the spectacle and the spectator.
Shot 5 (97:23-97:47) A tracking shot of 麗莎 climbing up the fire escape. This scene featured the diegesis background music from pianist apartment, symbolizing the prelude of 麗莎’s show. Use of music within the diegesis served to conceal choices of the director, thus presenting a more realistic perspective. Meanwhile, 麗莎 『s cheerful movements thymes with the music, indicating her ecstasy in her self-directed exhibition and her eagerness to please Jeff.
Shot 6 (97:47-97:50) A medium close-up of Jeff’s anxious face. Passively observing 麗莎 climbing up the fire escape, Jeff failed in his attempt to stop 麗莎. He murmured in almost inaudible voice 「麗莎! Don』t go!」. With Jeff in the audience side and 麗莎 leading the show, we noticed how their communication was one-sided, that 麗莎 was not expecting guidance from Jeff, although her initial decision of becoming part of the spectacle and imposing herself in danger was dependent on him. In contrast, Jeff was passively receiving information and was incapable of exerting any influence on 麗莎.
Shot 7 (97:51-98:11): Showing 麗莎 entering the apartment. Transition.
Shot 8 (98:13-98:30): 麗莎 excitedly showing the handbag she discovered across the building to Jeff, but found nothing inside. The handbag, as much as part of the clues to prove Thorvald guilty, served as a piece of costumes for 麗莎 in her show. 麗莎, using Jeff’s voyeurism obsession to display herself, was intentionally luring Jeff in this manner to promote their relationship.
Shot 9 (98:31-98:43): An establishing shot of Jeff’s apartment. Stella came back. Their dialogue provided a verbal transition to the next scene.
Shot 10 (98:43-99:13): The look moved to Miss. Lonely Heart’s window, with the voice of pianist in the background: 「all right, fellows, let’s try it once from the beginning.」 Noticing her suicide attempt, they finally called the police but soon noticed that she was so touched by the music that she’s given up the attempt. This implies how the elements outside the frame can exert influence on what’s happening within the frame.
Shot 11 (99:13-99:22): Another shot then included Mr. Thorvald’s window into the frame, showing the synchronic actions of Ms. Lonely Heart and 麗莎 standing by the window. While Mr. Thorvald suddenly showed up in the corridor window, intruding the peaceful moment and imposing a looming doom.
Shot 12 (99:23-99:26) It was then cut to a shot taken from the bottom of Jeff and Stella. With the light shined on Jeff’s face, Hitchcock used mise-en-scene to highlight the tension and anxiety of Jeff, but putting Stella’s reaction in the background.
Shot 13 (99:26-100:01) A shot of Thorvald’s apartment and him entering. Noticeably, at 99:33, Thorwald’s reflection was shown in the middle of the screen by the window mirror, which was kind of unintuitive for the audience but served as an intrusion into the scene, like his intrusion into 麗莎’s exhibitionist world.
Shot 14 (100:04-100:19): Thorvald found out 麗莎 was hiding in his room. Audible voice of 麗莎, saying 「The door was open.」 Thorvald assaulted 麗莎 and tried to kill her. Separated by the space between two buildings, an analogy of the space between spectators and spectacle, Jeff could have yelled out to confront Thorvald but he chose not to, instead he relied on the assist of police, who also acted on the spectacle side.
Shot 15 (100:24-100:43): A long shot showing direct confrontation of 麗莎 and Thorvald. In their struggle, 麗莎 yelled Jeff’s name in the direction of audience. This proved that we were seeing everything in the eyes of Jeff and encouraged viewers to identify with Jeff. Jeff, however, didn』t reply to 麗莎. He failed to save 麗莎 at this moment, but hid himself in the shadow to avoid recognition by the murderer.
Shot 16 (100:44-100:56): In his panic, Jeff asked Stella 「what we do?」 instead of directing acting upon her rescue. Even in this dangerous moment, he chose not to act.
Shot 17 (100:57-101:57) A establishing shot showing the police come in and talked to Thorvald and 麗莎. Thorvald reported 麗莎 as theft and had her arrested by the police.
Shot 25 (101:58-102:06) This scene was significant in that when 麗莎 showed off the wedding ring she found to Jeff on the other side of the building, Thorvald noticed the presence of Jeff, marking the first time when Jeff’s visibility was recognized by the murder. Therefore, Jeff was exposed in front of the enemy and lost his vantage point in voyeurism.
    In this manner, this sequence is Hitchcock’s comment on the audienceship in comparison to the exhibitionism of female characters on screen. Audience, in their pursuit of scopophilia pleasure, tends to overlook their visibility and underestimate the influence of cinema upon them. Therefore, even though female characters are ultimately objectified and victimized in front of the audience, the audience share similar vulnerability which they don』t realize. Hitchcock thus warned viewers of voyeurism and revealed the danger of trespassing the space between audienceship and spectacle.