Comparative Analysis of "Rear Window" and "Blow Up"
Intro
Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic 1954 film Rear Window tells the story of photojournalist L. B Jefferies, who is confined to a wheelchair after sustaining a leg injury in the field. Jeff, driven to boredom alone in his apartment, takes to the rear window to observe the everyday lives of his neighbours. He witnesses what he suspects to be a murder. Blow Up, Michelangelo Antonioni’s film festival hit, tells a story not so dissimilar; Fashion photographer Thomas, is strolling through the park when he begins to snap some shots of two lovers. Upon inspection of the images, he too, is convinced he has witnessed a murder. These gripping Mystery-Thrillers both tell the stories using the themes of surveillance, confinement, and dissatisfaction, but in very different ways. This essay will explore these themes, and discuss how they are used as techniques to present the stories.
Body P1: Dissatisfaction
The characters of the two films both find themselves unsatisfied with their lives. Jeff is at a standstill in his life – his broken leg leaves him confined to his apartment for weeks while it heals. Usually, he is a busy man. He leads a fast-paced life, constantly travelling and seeing new things to photograph. Journalism is his passion, but no matter how much he begs his superior, he cannot partake in his current condition. This leaves him bored and frustrated, with no outlet for six weeks. Not only is he unfulfilled by the standstill in his career, but also his relationship with his girlfriend, Lisa. She hopes their relationship will advance, but he does not see her a suitable wife. Jeff suggests that she would not be able to keep up with his demanding career – internally feeling that she would only bring him down and leave him more unsatisfied that how he feels in his current state. Thomas too, is unsatisfied with his life. The models he photographs never seem to be enough – he treats them cruelly and dismisses their work, constantly berating them at every turn. His friends seem to care little about him, and the same goes for his wife – who is not once featured in the film. Thomas craves, quite a literal, breath of fresh air. He needs to see something different after only photographing the same mod women over and over. The dissatisfaction of these characters is what drives them to the events in which they believe they witness murders. If Jeff had not been so bored in his apartment, his never would have begun staring out the window; and if Thomas had not been so bored of the same old models, he never would have looked for a fresh take in the park. Even Thorwald finds himself fuelled by dissatisfaction – his tired wife nags and brings nothing new and exciting to his life. This bothers him so much so that he plans to take her life and run away with another woman.
Body P2: morals and ethics/ view of women/marriage
This view of women is similar through both films. A combination of the themes, and the era result in women being painted as a burden to weigh the protagonist down. In Rear Window, Jeff sees marriage as a form of confinement; he sees it as even more limiting than the wheelchair – he feels that if he is to marry Lisa then he will lose his freedom as a photographer. He thinks that he will not be able to go travelling on his assignments anymore, and will be restricted to a boring life with a nagging wife. He cannot commit to Lisa, because he feels he has to choose between her and the career that he loves. All of this fits in with the 1950’s misogynistic ideology of marriage, where people consider a wife a ‘ball and chain’. In Blow Up, the models feel like props, because that is how Thomas sees them. In his world, women exist only to please him, and with his aloofness he pushes them away.
JEFF: I wonder if it is ethical to watch a man with binoculars and a long-focus lens. Do you, do you suppose it's ethical even if you prove that he didn't commit a crime?
Lisa: I'm not much on rear-window ethics.
Jeff: Of course, they can do the same thing to me. Watch me like a bug under a glass if they want to.
BODY P3: confinement
It is not only the boredom of these characters that drives them to their voyeuristic tendencies, but also the confinement. The theme of confinement is consistent throughout both films; Jeff is not only confined to his apartment, but a wheelchair too. Thorwald is also confined, but in the opposite way to Jefferies. Jeff is used to a life of action, but is now confined to a chair; Thorwald is confined to his boring life, and seeks to break away and try some action. In Blow Up, Thomas is isolated, but not in the same way as Jeff. He can go anywhere and do anything, but he is isolated by his own perspective, attitude, and the people around him. When he tells his friends about his discovery, they brush him off. In Rear Window, Lisa and Stella are convinced by Jeff, and come to help him close in on Thorwald. Rear Window furthers the theme of confinement by literally confining the viewer. The audience only sees what Jeff can see through his window. Only one set is used throughout the entire movie, with everything being shown as close or as distant as Jeff is viewing it himself. The only information we have about the people who live in the apartments is what Jeff has observed or assumed about them. For the people he does not know by name, he nicknames them and tries to piece together their lives from the snippets he can see. The minor neighbours Miss. Torso, Miss. Lonely-hearts, and the pianist also have their own stories revolving around the theme of confinement. We, the viewers, become invested in not only the lives of the protagonists, but the minor characters too. The two texts create such strong feelings of confinement that work to draw the viewer in, and allow them to empathise and understand why the characters act and feel the way they do. Even when we know the characters and doing wrong, we cannot help but be intrigued.
Body P4: surveillance
Both texts present stories in which the protagonist finds themselves spying on people. In Rear Window, Jeff is aware of his voyeuristic tendencies. Both Lisa and his nurse, Stella, shun him, calling him a peeping tom, and rightfully so. He knows that spying on his neighbours is something he should not do, but in his state of extreme boredom, he cannot pull himself away.
Stella: “We've become a race of peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes, sir. How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy?”
The audience in the beginning, will likely agree that Jeff is a peeping tom, but Hitchcock’s technique of putting us in Jeff’s perspective allow us to see and understand why Jeff is so intrigued. The constant themes of confinement, isolation, and dissatisfaction all work together to allow the audience to understand and empathise The viewer can only see what Jeff sees – these small snippets of the lives of the neighbours entice the audience into wanting to spy more. There are no shots of anything that Jeff would not be able to see - everything is shot from his apartment, which makes the audience understand, and truly experience Jeff’s feelings of confinement fuelling his desire to peer into the neighbour’s lives. Blow Up presents the theme of surveillance in a very different way. Thomas is not faced with the same physical confinement as Jeff, but still he choose. Both protagonists begin watching only harmlessly, with no intention of truly spying and invading privacy.
