Rear Window Comparison Essay

The films we chose to compare and contrast in our analysis are Rear Window and Disturbia. The movie Rear Window was released in 1954 whereas Disturbia was released in 2007 53 years apart. Rear Window is an Alfred Hitchcock movie while D.J. Caruso directed Disturbia. We chose these movies to compare because both the films have similar story lines and it is generally known that Rear Window influenced D. J. Caruso in the creation of Disturbia. Our comparison concludes that while Both the movies might look similar on the surface, they are two distinct films created to cater to a different set of audience. In our analysis we will compare the elements of genre, plot, male gaze, semiotics (class & technical), mise-en-scene, voyeuristic scopophilia, among the other aspects of the movie.

The genre of Disturbia is thriller/mystery/drama/horror, while Rear Window falls under the genre of thriller/mystery but not horror. Both films have similar themes, which are voyeurism, murder, and suspense. The plot in both films is somewhat similar. In Rear Window the male protagonist, Jeff is confined to his home after he breaks his leg and in

Disturbia, the male protagonist, Kale is confined to his home with an ankle bracelet under house arrest. Both characters, because of this, watch their neighbors using cameras and binoculars, out of curiosity, boredom, and for entertainment.
In Disturbia, kale begins to suspect that one of his neighbors (Mr. Turner) could possibly be the serial killer that he heard about on the news. Similarly, in Rear Window, Jeff begins to suspect his neighbor Mr. Thorwald, when notices that Mr. Thorwald’s ailing wife is missing and Mr. Thorwald doing odd things like cleaning up messes and carrying suitcases out of his apartment. Jeff then suspects that Mr. Thorwald killed his wife. Both Kale and Jeff send some one close to them to spy on the suspected murderer who gets caught by the police. In Disturbia, Kale sends his friend Ronnie and in Rear Window, Jeff sends his girlfriend Lisa. Lisa is caught and arrested in Rear Window when Mr. Thorwald finds her in his apartment. But in Disturbia, Ronnie never comes back from Mr. Turner’s house. Therefore, based on live video footage, Kale suspects that Turner killed Ronnie and goes to Mr. Turners house. While he is there, his ankle bracelet goes off and the police do arrive to figure out what happened. In both the films the suspect tries to kill the male protagonist. In Rear Window, Mr. Thorwald tries to kill Jeff by throwing him out the window but Jeff survives the fall. In Disturbia, Mr. Turner tries to kill Kale when he goes to find his mom who went to Mr. turner’s house but does not succeed. In the end, in Rear Window, Jeff ends up breaking his other leg due to the fall and his girlfriend Lisa is seen taking care of him. In the end, in Disturbia, Kale saves his mom, kills Mr. Turner, and gets to enjoy his time with Ashley because his ankle bracelet has been removed for good behavior. A critical difference seen here is that Jeff is still confined to his home with now two broken legs but Kale is free to leave his home since his ankle bracelet was removed.
Both the movies Rear Window and Disturbia, both employ the male gaze. In Rear Window, the vantage point of the film is basically the male gaze since the audience, sees what Jeff sees as the entire film is shot through the eyes of Jeff, the male protagonist. The vantage point is the same in Disturbia, since the audience see the film through Kale’s eyes since he is the male protagonist. The female “objects” of the male gaze in Rear Window are Miss Torso and the glamorous Lisa, who is Jeff’s girl friend. Miss Torso is seen scantily dressed as she dances around her apartment, while full body shots of Lisa are seen as well as close ups of her back, legs and body. In one scene, the film pans from her legs all the way up to her face. Similarly, the female object in Disturiba is Ashley, a teenage girl who is Kale’s neighbor. Kale is seen peering into Ashley's room, and watches her swim in her pool through his camera or the video recorder. One difference between the films is that in Rear Window, Jeff seems intimidated by Lisa because of her intellect and refuses to marry her but Lisa continues to pursue Jeff. However, in Disturbia, Kale pursues Ashley, who becomes his girlfriend in the end.
Both Rear Window and Disturbia employ voyeuristic scopophilia.

This is seen in Rear Window when Jeff watches the scantily dressed miss torso dancing and undressing. The camera also focuses on miss Torso’s derriere as she bends down to find something in the fridge. The stereotypical shots of Lisa’s legs and the panning from Lisa’s legs to her face, along with the close-up shots of her back and cleavage are also examples of voyeuristic scopophilia. In Disturbia, Kale, the protagonist watches Ashley swim in her pool, doing yoga, and undressing. The camera focuses on Ashley’s body especially with close-up shots of her in a bikini. But it’s interesting to note that in some scenes where Kale is watching Ashley, Ashley actually looks back at him like she knows he’s watching, and doesn’t seem disturbed that he is watching her, thus returning the

gaze.
Both films have more differences than similarities with respect to mise-en-scene. In terms of the setting, Rear Window was shot in a studio set where the immobile Jeff is seen spending his entire time in his apartment. The audience only sees the rear windows of his neighbors. On the other hand, Disturbia, was shot in a real suburb area with a wider space focus. The audience sees the entire street in Kale’s neighborhood while also seeing Kale walk around his house. Kale is also seen walking around on his front lawn, and going into his neighbor, Mr. Turner’s house. Although the inside of Turners house is seen in Disturbia, in Rear Window, the audience only sees what happens through the rear windows of Jeff’s neighbors’ houses.
In terms of sound, Rear Window is entirely diegetic, arising from the normal activities of the characters. Whereas, in Disturbia, sound is mostly non-diegetic and the film has soundtracks and background scores. In terms of technology, both Rear Window and Disturbia contain the use of a camera and binoculars. However, in Disturbia modern technology such as an iMac and iPod are also seen. In terms of violence, a murder is not actually seen in Rear Window due to the implementation of Hays Code at that time which prohibited the use of brutal images. Whereas, in Disturbia, there is visible violence, a blood splattered window, and a scene where Kale kills Mr. Turner with gardening shears.
There are more differences than similarities between the two films in terms of the semiotic system class codes. In Rear Window, Jeff is seen wearing light colored pajamas for the entire film and Lisa is seen wearing the glamorous clothes of the upper middle class of that time. In Disturbia however, Kale is seen wearing the typical teenage clothing of modern times and Ashley is seen wearing bikinis and typical female teenage clothing. With respect to male privilege, Rear Window portrays more male privilege than Disturbia. In Rear Window, Jeff does not want to marry his girlfriend Lisa even though Lisa is keen on marrying Jeff. Lisa tries to please him by doing what she thinks he expects of her. Disturbia does not have many examples of male privilege.
With respect to the camera focus, the close ups in Rear Window are used to emphasize Lisa’s sexuality which caters to the male gaze. Similarly, in Disturbia, the close ups are used to focus on Ashley’s cleavage which in turn sexualizes her character for the male gaze. The long shots in both films are used to provide a composite view of the neighborhood activities that the male protagonist watches. With regards to the cinematic technical codes, the angle of Rear Window is taken from Jeff’s room, which is an important element that makes the film “Rear Window.” The limited angle allows the viewer to experience the same inability as Jeff by seeing only what he sees. Overall, the angle limits the view, increases the suspense, and creates a mystery. In comparison, in Disturbia, the angle is not only taken from the window in Kale’s room but is also taken from the other windows in the house. However, the limitations are less strict. Rear Window uses framing to limit the focus of the viewer to the eyes of the protagonist through the use of the protagonist’s windows, neighbors’ windows, and binoculars. However, in Disturbia, in addition to the protagonist’s windows, and neighbor’s window, other elements such as trees are used to focus the attention of the viewer onto the subjects of the film.
An interesting fact about Disturbia is that there was a lawsuit filed against Steven Speilberg, Dream Works, its parent company Viacom and universal studios on September 5, 2008, alleging that Disturbia infringed on the rights of Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story “it had to be murder” which was the basis for the film Rear Window. But in the end the court ruled that Disturbia did not steal Rear Window’s plot, and the movies were distinct enough. They cater to different audiences at different times.