It couldn't begin any other way. In Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock never allows us to leave the apartment where photographer L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is holed up with a leg injury. All we see throughout the film is what he sees from his apartment window, so of course the first shot is the view of the other apartments and their varied inhabitants outside Jeffries' window. Hitchcock playfully introduces this first shot as the blinds are slowly pulled up on Jeffries' windows. As the curtains would draw up for a theatre performance, Hitchcock is indicating the start of the show he makes clear Rear Window's purpose as entertainment from the off. Then, as the opening credits finish, the camera slowly pans out of the window in the courtyard, and we're plunged into the drama head-first.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
