Classic Movie Monday: "Rear Window" vs "Disturbia"

There are certain classics that, in theory, should be much harder to re-imagine than others. Often times, it’s very difficult to modernize certain aspects of a story, whether it be the topic or story plot. By all accounts, Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery thriller Rear Window should have been difficult to adapt in 2007. Rear Window’s plot makes the film date itself more than other Hitchcock films. At the center of the 1954 film, which stars James Stewart, is L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries, a photographer whose broken-leg forces him to be wheelchair-bound and unable to leave his house. Having nothing else to do, Jeff passes the time by spying on the people from the apartment complex across from his. When he sees what he believes to be a murder at the hands of a man named Thorwald, Jeff takes it upon himself to solve the crime.

Rear Window remains one of Hitchcock’s most decorated films, so it is no surprise that eventually someone would try and remake it. The question, however, is how? The idea of being unable to leave home because of a broken leg doesn’t make sense in the 21st century. Enter D.J. Caruso’s Disturbia. The film stars Shia LaBeouf as Kale, a troubled teen traumatized and guilt-ridden from the death of his father. After punching his Spanish teacher, Kale is placed under house arrest. Unable to leave his house, along with being grounded, Kale begins to spy on his neighbors out of boredom. When he begins to suspect that his neighbor, Mr. Turner (David Morse), is a serial killer, Kale enlists his two friends, Ronnie and Ashley, to help him prove that Mr. Turner is indeed a murderer.

         

  Let’s first look at the similarities between the two films. The first is, obviously, the plot. Both films see the protagonists essentially trapped in their homes, resulting in their spying on their neighbors to pass the time. This leads to the next major similarity. While Hitchcock never shied away from exploring voyeurism, Rear Window was the first time where he really made that his driving point. He neither condemns nor praises it; he simply explores our curiosity in wanting to see anything that might seem interesting. It’s not always a sexual thing in Rear Window, although Jeff does seem to enjoy watching “Miss Torso” from time to time. Regardless, Rear Window is sort of an exploration on human behaviors and shows that people aren’t always what they appear to be. Some of that still holds true for Disturbia, but not nearly as strongly. There are some of the sexual aspects of it as Kale spies on his new neighbor, Ashley, as she is in her room or swimming in her pool. However, the film never really explores human nature in the same way that Rear Window does.

Now, although there are similar aspects, these two films are also very, very different. One of the biggest difference between these two films is the way they are shot. In the Hitchcock classic, the protagonist only has a window through which he can look from. What this means is that Hitchcock was forced to create a world which could fit inside of one large frame that could show many different lives happening at once. In Disturbia, however, the protagonist has a much bigger range of motion that allowed D.J. Caruso to give each neighbor their own frame and their own world in which they could exist. Not to say that one approach is better than the other, but they serve different purposes. It is easier for Hitchcock to explore human nature if there is an entire world in front of him. That wasn’t what Caruso was aiming to do so it wasn’t necessary to create such a restrained world.

            Another big difference is the fact that Disturbia benefits from taking place in a more technologically advanced time period. There is a point in both films where the characters helping the protagonists break into the villains’ home to get proof against them. In Rear Window, we are forced to look from the outside, which is still thrilling because you get a chance to see everything happening at once. In Disturbia, however, we benefit from having cellphones and webcams. As a result, we are able to actually go inside the homes of the villain and get an inside look rather than being stuck on the outside looking in.

The last key difference is the way these films wrap up. As one might expect, at the end of these films there is a confrontation with the villain. In Rear Window, Thorwald comes to Jeff’s apartment and a struggle ensues between the two. It’s a moment that doesn’t get dragged out to be longer than it needs to be. In about 5 minutes, it is neatly wrapped up in a way that makes sense. The same cannot be said for Disturbia. The last 20-25 minutes of the film see it become a very clichéd version of a slasher film that almost ruins the entire film.

While Disturbia is not a perfect film, I do believe that it is a very good example of how one should approach remaking and modernizing an older film. It creates enough of a separation from Rear Window to where it can stand on its own without having to deal with the inevitable comparisons to the original film. It’s fascinating to see these two films back to back and see how different they are while also being essentially the same thing. The approach is different, but the point is the same. They’re an exploration of voyeurism and curiosity. They show our innate desire to want to see everything around us, even when we aren’t necessarily welcomed to. If you have seen Disturbia, I would highly recommend trying out Rear Window and compare the two. Alfred Hitchcock’s classic masterfully creates an entire world through an apartment window in a way that Disturbia was not able to do and it is an incredible achievement.