Click HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE for readings on the film
Discussion Questions:
1. If the male protagonists controls our viewing experience, then how does the film achieve this? Are there times when we see through eyes other than Jeffries? What does this mean?
2. Is there one point in the film in which Jeffries attitude towards Lisa changes, that suddenly he desires her?
3. Do any fetish objects (beside Lisa, perhaps) which appear in the film?
4. How does the uneasy banter between Jeffries and Lisa (discussing issues of marriage, commitment, the roles of men and women, etc.) relate to the drama unfolding across the courtyard?
5. In one of its aspects, this is a detective film, its story concerned with the discovery of a crime. But Hitchcock seems as concerned with the motives of the amateur detectives as he is with those of the villain. What does the film suggest about Jeffries' & Lisa's (& Stella's) desires and motives? How does Hitchcock make use of the personas of his two big stars (Stewart and Kelly)?
6. Do we feel any sympathy for the villain, Lars Thorwald?
Discussion Questions:
1. If the male protagonists controls our viewing experience, then how does the film achieve this? Are there times when we see through eyes other than Jeffries? What does this mean?
2. Is there one point in the film in which Jeffries attitude towards Lisa changes, that suddenly he desires her?
3. Do any fetish objects (beside Lisa, perhaps) which appear in the film?
4. How does the uneasy banter between Jeffries and Lisa (discussing issues of marriage, commitment, the roles of men and women, etc.) relate to the drama unfolding across the courtyard?
5. In one of its aspects, this is a detective film, its story concerned with the discovery of a crime. But Hitchcock seems as concerned with the motives of the amateur detectives as he is with those of the villain. What does the film suggest about Jeffries' & Lisa's (& Stella's) desires and motives? How does Hitchcock make use of the personas of his two big stars (Stewart and Kelly)?
6. Do we feel any sympathy for the villain, Lars Thorwald?