Rear Window, Twelve Years Later

I was ten years old when I saw my first Hitchcock film.

It was a Sunday afternoon in late spring. Church was over and my family had just finished dinner. My dad was flipping through channels when he called me over.

"Come watch this movie with me."

It was Rear Window.

Sitting there, I became engrossed in the film. My ten year old mind was hard at work absorbing the plot and characters. It was visually fascinating. The neighbors all had their little sub-stories to understand without the help of dialogue. All I could rely on was body language and subtleties.

As the plot progressed, my anxiety increased. It was the first time I could remember feeling true tension in a film. I was "on the edge of my seat," if you'll forgive the old cliche. I concentrated with the attentiveness of a practiced detective. As the stakes got higher, my anxiety increased. I kept looking at my dad for help, for reassurance that everything would be okay. Whenever I did, he'd raise his eyebrows and his eyes would get wide as if to say he didn't know what was going to happen either.

Vividly in my mind I can remember watching Grace Kelly looking around Thorwald's apartment and seeing Thorwald walking down the hall to his apartment. He would catch her and there was no way of warning her. I was in a panic. I wanted to yell or throw something or do anything to warn Grace Kelly. But like our protagonist, I was helpless.

After the movie had finished, I sat in awe. I never knew movies could be like this. I was used to Disney animated musicals with wisecracking woodland creatures, magic, and pretty princesses. But this, this was something different.

We went over to our neighbor, Kent & Sara Nelson's house to visit. Kent & Sara had been my surrogate grandparents for as long as I could remember. The entire visit, I would talk to my dad, to Kent, to anyone who would listen about this awesome movie. Of course, Rear Window was not new. It had been made 33 years before I was born. Hell, it had been made six years before my dad was born. But I could not believe how different it was. The way the movie was told, it was new, exciting, engaging. I had discovered the secret to great film and everyone needed to know.

Now, 12 years later, I watched Rear Window again. I had not watched it since that first time when I was ten. Since then I had seen hundreds if not thousands of movies. I knew what I liked and what was shit. I had seen more films by Hitchcock, my favorite being Psycho. But it was like nothing had changed. I was still spellbound, captivated, intrigued. I was again caught up in anxiety and sheer panic for Grace Kelly, even though I know how the movie ends. I fell in love with it all over again.

Rear Window is why I love movies. Movies can be great in two ways. One, it has a great story. It's tragic how often Hollywood forgets this. The basis of a great movie should always be a great story. If this isn't an option, there is always the second way: is visually intriguing. Case in point, Avatar. The story is nothing new. It's basically a combination of Pocahontas, Star Trek: Insurrection, and a micro version of any chick flick. But holy crap, when you saw that movie on the big screen in 3-D, it was stimulation overload. It looked awesome! But when you take both those elements, good story & visual intrigue, (add some great acting a la James Stewart, Grace Kelly, & Raymond Burr) and they sync and harmonize, you get a great movie. You get a better than great movie. You get a film that will last, that is memorable. You get a movie that reminds us why we love watching movies in the first place.

Hats off to you, Mr. Hitchcock.

Love you.
Mean it.