The film is set in one of Paramount's studios and required nearly 1860 square meters of bricks, almost 12 tons of steel, with a total of 31 apartments created with windows designed to match the dimensions of the screens of the time. Twelve of them are fully furnished and usable by the actors. This set represents Greenwich Village, a neighborhood in New York known for its cultural life. That's why we see neighbors who are dancers, sculptors, musicians, and even Jeff is an integral part of this world as a photographer. To give even more life and credibility to this set, Hitchcock asked his entire team to provide him with photos of their yards and buildings.

Taking all this information into account, it quickly becomes apparent that the set is not just a backdrop in the film, but it occupies a central place in the story and is filmed as if it were a theatrical performance. This becomes evident from the first seconds when Jeff's apartment blinds open slowly, reminiscent of theater curtains at the start of a performance.

Hitchcock uses the set to accentuate the suspense and intrigue of the story, playing on what can be seen and what cannot be seen by Jeff, and therefore by us, the viewers. It's not the camera's point of view that changes, but rather that of the set itself. In addition to playing with sight, he also plays with sound. It is important to remember that Hitchcock first came from the world of silent cinema and is deeply attached to it. With "Rear Window," he had the opportunity to render Jeff's neighbors completely inaudible and play exclusively with visual language.

"Rear Window" can be compared to a play where space, time, and the actions of different actors are played with, but which also uses all the codes of cinema.

While watching "Rear Window," the clear influence of Edward Hopper's works in Hitchcock's films cannot escape the observer. Hopper is renowned for his paintings capturing moments of life, feelings of solitude, discomfort, but also optimism, especially in the pre and post-war period.

Hopper's fingerprints can be found in the film "Psycho" (1960), where one can detect the reminiscence of his painting "House by Railroad" (1925). We observe a landscape with a house in the center, remarkably similar to that of Norman Bates and his mother. Another work, the painting "Night Window" (1928), shows a lonely woman in a very intimate moment in her room, evoking the loneliness of Miss Lonelyhearts in the film. Hopper and Hitchcock first explore the feeling of voyeurism, intrusion, and isolation, but also the boundary between the visible and the invisible, what they want to show or exclude through the windows.

In order to bring depth and credibility to the film, Hitchcock had to make modifications to William Irish's short story "It Had To Be Murder." Jeff thus becomes a photographer and uses a telephoto lens to accentuate the theme of voyeurism, playing with the audience by directing their gaze. In the height of summer, with everyone leaving their windows wide open, daily lives, sorrows, frustrations, loves, joys, everything is laid bare, arousing Jeff's curiosity.

Thus, Jeff begins to take pleasure in and become interested in the lives of his neighbors, but tension and the dangers of voyeurism quickly settle into the narrative. Amidst the joys of daily life, a murder unfolds, not explicitly shown, but suggested by a scream, Thorwald's strange behavior, and his wife's mysterious disappearance. This drama is underscored by a change in atmosphere: the nights become rainy, dark, and ominous. The tension becomes increasingly heavy, focused on Thorwald's actions and his apartment. Moreover, as the film progresses, the pace quickens and temporal clues multiply. The police will arrive in two minutes, Lisa needs more time in Thorwald's apartment to find clues... We are all absorbed, hoping for a happy ending.

Ultimately, beyond being a thriller with a voyeurism and murder plot, Hitchcock wanted to make viewers realize that we are all, by definition, voyeurs, as we watch films by observing without directly participating in the stories.

Trailer Rear Window- Alfred Hitchcock

"The Simpsons" - Season 6, Episode 1

In this episode, you can see a caricature of the movie. Bart Simpson portrays James Stewart, Lisa is Grace Kelly, and Ned Flanders is Raymond Burr, the neighbor who committed the "murder."