Deciphering Alfred's Masterpiece
             Bede Jarrett once said that "the mysterious is always attractive. People will follow a veil." In the specified sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, narrative form is integral to the film in order to construct a further understanding and create a mysterious tension in the mind of the viewer. The viewer learns which character is in control of the narrative, the cause-effect relationship of the narrative, realizes the relation of the narrative to the plot structure. Furthermore, the audience obtains a deeper understanding of the central characters, appreciates the dual focus narrative, sees that there are many characteristics that make this film a part of the "Classical Hollywood Cinema," and observes the narrative move forward through explicit and inferred events.
             The narration in the given sequence of Rear Window, clearly demonstrates which character is in control of the dialogue. It follows the social ideal of the 1960's and dedicates the majority of the power in the situation to Jeff. Although Lisa seems to be quite dominant in the initiation of ideas and conversation, Jeff always discredits her comments with clever remarks and sexual references. This is exemplified when Lisa comments that she desires to be creative, to which Jeff remarks, "Sweetie, you are. You have a great talent for creating difficult situations." This statement supports another social ideal of the era. It discourages Lisa's "surprise" of staying the night by calling it a "difficult situation" in a time when staying at the residence of a member of the opposite sex was unacceptable. Following social ideals was important in the 1960's, and this was accomplished by allotting Jeff the dominant role in the narrative.
             Another important element to the narrative is to create the film in cause-effect sequence, as not to confuse the audience. A cause-e...