A Voyeur, A Woman, and A Song | The Film Club | A Hitchcock Halloween

Rear Window
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

In Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954), director Alfred Hitchcock uses a number of cinematic elements to convey his film’s themes. In particular, Hitchcock uses the development of the song “Lisa” to parallel the development of Jeff and Lisa’s relationship. Hitchcock introduces the song to enlighten the audience to Lisa’s transformation into the woman of Jeff’s fantasy. By evolving the song from formation to completion, Hitchcock tracks for the audience the progression of Jeff and Lisa’s intimate reconciliation.   

​Hitchcock begins to formulate the relationship between Jeff and Lisa before Lisa is even introduced on screen. The audience learns that Jeff is reluctant to marry Lisa (or even remain in a relationship with her) because he sees her as being too upper class, too elite, too “perfect” (Hitchcock, 1954). Additionally, Hitchcock introduces Jeff as being a fantasist. He’s a voyeur who has the compulsion to observe what he shouldn’t (Giannetti, 2008). He enjoys projecting himself onto his subjects; he enjoys being caught up in the spectacle of his subjects. As a voyeur, he lusts after his mysterious subjects and finds immense pleasure in observing them in their own worlds (Chion and Bozovie, 1992). Because of his attraction to the unknown outside world, he can’t love Lisa because she isn’t a spectacle. She isn’t unreachable across the apartment block, rather she’s right there, real and tangible. She’s on the inside, whereas Jeff only wants what’s on the outside.

But things soon change, as Lisa finds her way into Jeff’s fantasy world. She begins to get drawn into his scheming world of murder and mayhem, making her appear more illustrious and compelling to Jeff. Hitchcock triggers this change to the audience with the introduction of Lisa’s melody. The first time the audience hears the song is when Lisa begins to fall into Jeff’s obsessive fantasy. The song continues to play through the scene while Jeff slowly pulls Lisa into his world. He is providing her with justifications as to why she should believe his stories, while she refutes his claims. But as the music continues to evolve, Lisa is transfixed by something she sees across the block— Thorwald tying up a box with rope— and she is pulled straight into his world just as the music peaks.

Throughout the film, the audience hears the evolution of the song, from its formation to its studio recording. Hitchcock pares each evolution of the song with a pivotal moment in which Lisa is drawn even deeper into Jeff’s fantasy world. When the song is first introduced, it is unfinished, patchy, and just features the piano. She is still skeptical of Jeff’s theory, but nonetheless can’t help but to be drawn into his scheme. During the climax of the film, Hitchcock introduces the song again. This time, the song is completely composed and includes additional instruments. This version of the song is paired with Lisa physically entering into Jeff’s fantasy world as she goes into the Thorwald’s home to look for the wife’s wedding ring. She actually becomes a part of his fantasy — she leaves his world and becomes part of the spectacle, untouchable and unreachable. The final version of the song is the studio recording, which includes vocals as well as a full orchestra. It is paired with a panning shot across the apartment block, before reaching back into Jeff’s apartment, where he is sleeping contently with two broken legs. Hitchcock then pans to Lisa on Jeff’s bed. She is reading a book called “Beyond the High Himalayas,” but when she notices that Jeff is fast asleep, she switches to reading Harper’s Bazaar. She has a smirk of satisfaction on her, as the screen fades to black.

Through this evolution, the audience sees how Lisa has changed to fit into Jeff’s world. The final moments of the film give the impression that Lisa knows that the only way to win Jeff’s affection is to become the spectacle, which she has done. She has consciously and purposefully played into his fantasy world, building herself up to be more than a beauty queen and fashionista. She is showing Jeff that she can be the adventurous and spontaneous woman of his fantasies. Yet, Hitchcock shows the audience her true nature when she disregards the Himalayas book (something that Jeff would find interesting) for the fashion magazine. Jeff’s and Lisa’s relationship evolves over the course of the film because Lisa transforms herself into the fantasy woman Jeff craves. Hitchcock uses the song “Lisa” to enlighten the audience of Lisa’s conscious transformation.

In Rear Window, Hitchcock uses the song “Lisa” to explore the true nature of the relationship between Jeff and Lisa. The evolution of the song, paired with critical moments in the film, helps to enlighten the audience of the transformation of Lisa into Jeff’s fantasy woman. Rear Window’s McGuffin — the murder of Mrs. Thorwald — plays a part in illustrating to the audience the film’s true plotline — Jeff’s sexual pleasures as a voyeur and the role Lisa plays in perpetuating it (Mast and Kawin, 2006).
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A companion piece to October's Film Club, A Hitchcock Halloween


Works Cited:

Chion, Michael and Miran Bozovie. 4th Side and Man Behind his own Retina. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lacan: But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock. Zizk, S. ed. London. Verso. 1992. 0860913945. Ch. 6. pp. 155-177.

Giannetti, Louis. Hitchcock. Understanding Movies. Upper Saddle River. Prentice Hall. 2008. 0132336995. pp. 254-258.

Mast, Gerald and Bruce F. Kawin. American Studio Years: 1930-1945 "Ford and the Studio System" and "Hitchcock and 50s Cinema." Short History of the Movies. New York. Longman. 2006. 0321262328. Ch. 11. pp. 186-210, 211-214.