1. Rear Window
Less romantic and more an exploration of romance, Rear Window defines the cinematic male point of view, ie, looking at women who can't look back. This is not to say that our hero is a lecherous peeping tom though, and his voyeurism actually adds to the film's study of romance in various ways. Central to Rear Window is the relationship between Jeff and Lisa, a not completely unfamiliar romance of people from different extremes; He is an adventurous and travel loving photographer, and she a city loving socialite. Wheelchair bound and trapped in his flat, Jeff's way of staving off boredom is to sit by his window and watch his neighbours through theirs. Just as Jeff looks through his camera lens, by looking through Alfred Hitchcock's own we can see a loving newlywed couple whose romance slowly dwindles for example, a seemingly single girl entertaining countless guests while her own man is abroad. This being a Hitchcock classic there is of course the murder mystery thriller of a husband who murdered his bed ridden and demanding wife (or did he?) which holds the tension throughout. The genius behind this particular film though is that while following a gripping and often tense plot of what could just be a stir crazy conspiracy, it is easy to forget that more than the windows of his neighbours, Jeff is looking through those of his own possible future with Lisa. And for an adventurous sole like Jeff, perhaps it is the middle aged couple settled down into suburbia that is the worst on offer.