Details and Rear Window

"By close-ups of the things around us, by focusing on hidden details of familiar objects, by exploring commonplace milieu under the ingenious guidance of the camera, the film, on the one hand, extends our comprehension of the necessities which rules our lives; on the other hand it manages to assure us of an immense and unexpected field of action." - Walter Benjamin "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction"

In the movie, Rear Window, the main character, LBJ Jefferies, had a broken leg and as a way to pass time while being stuck at his apartment he begins to watch his neighbors outside of his back window. From this view he witnesses his neighbors exhibit rather strange behavior. He begins to become convinced that one of his neighbors (Thorald) killed his wife. He comes to this conclusion by looking at seemingly trivial pieces of evidence that even the police detective did not think was important enough to consider in the investigation for the murder.


One of the pieces of evidence that LBJ finds that convinces him that his neighbor is guilty is that the flowers are taller earlier in the movie. What is the significance of that? LBJ realizes that the flowers must have been dug up and put back in place. He sends his girlfriend and his nurse to dig up the soil to see if they could find a body. What is the significance of that? While over there his girlfriend decides to enter Thorald 's apartment, unfortunately for her, Thorald enters the apartment again and there is a confrontation. What is the significance of that? This confrontation leads to the climax of the film, where Thorald confronts LBJ about the murder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpxdWollqSA)

If we are to agree with Benjamin that films show us the hidden details on everyday objects while still leaving open the possibility of unlimited actions, then Rear Window would be the perfect example. As noted earlier, by merely noticing the differences in the heights of the flowers in the garden bed it leads to the climax of the film. The film shows that even the tiniest detail is worth exploring. If the film does not have any actions that are unexpected, however, it fails Benjamin's test.

Obviously, Thorald killing his wife is a pretty unexpected action in the movie (especially with no real motive ever discovered). However, the assumption that Thorald killed his wife is there basically throughout the whole movie. The more unexpected action that takes place is when the dog mysteriously appears dead. The movie is focusing on LBJ and his girlfriend when all of a sudden we are alerted by a scream. Then we are notified that the dog was killed. During the movie, it is one of the most unexpected moments. LBJ noticed that the dog had been sniffing around the garden earlier as well. This unexpected action takes place because of the focus on the hidden details.