Rear Window and Disturbia

Characters:

The main characters in Disturbia are quite contrasting in ages, there are the three teenagers (Kale, Ashley and Ronnie), then Kale's mother and the serial killer next door neighbour(Robert Turner) are much older, I would say 35+. This is similar to Rear Window whose main characters were quite varied in age, Jeff who is at home with a broken leg and his nurse Stella are middle aged, whilst Jeff's girlfriend Lisa and the ballet dancer are both younger.

In Disturbia, Kale (the protagonist) has Ashley who becomes his girlfriend during the film which is similar to Rear Window in which Jeff (the protagonist) has a girlfriend, Lisa. So there is a love interest to add to the suspense which happens during both films.

In both films the main character is spying on their next door neighbour and gets two main people involved whilst the police refuse to intervene. However in Disturbia it is Kale's best friend who is the third person whilst in Rear Window it is Jeff's nurse who joins in with the suspicions.

In both Disturbia and Rear Window it is a male protagonist, who is quite scruffy and unkept, which contrasts with their leading lady who is very glamorous and beautiful. There is also a male antagonist in both films, both antagonists are old and greying.

The victims in both films are female, although in Rear Window there is only one murder, in Disturbia there is countless bodies from the past, the antagonist in Disturbia is a serial killer whereas in Rear Window he is more of a domestic killer, he murdered his wife.

Kale and Jeff have similar behaviour, they are both determined to prove that something happened and that it isn't just them imagining things. This is apparent because when people tell them that they are just over analysing a situation, then they get more determined to show that it is real. Their original motivation for looking out of their windows and watching people is due to boredom, Jeff because he cannot move because of his leg and Kale because he had his Xbox, iTunes and other various entertainment taken away from him by his mother. However Ashley and Lisa are quite different in the films, Ashley believes Kale from the start and joins in on the spying, however Lisa tries to persuade Jeff that he is wrong and is not thinking straight and then towards the middle of the film she begins to believe him.

In Rear Window the murderer doesn't hint at the murder, in fact we don't speak to him until the end of the film. However in Disturbia the antagonist almost taunts Kale with little bits of information which could be linked to the murder. Kale hears on the radio that the woman that has been murdered was a school teacher, and he also sees the car with the dented fender in next doors garage. Then the antagonist comes over to his house because he helped Kale's mother carry her shopping, the antagonist proceeds to ask Kale why he is on house arrest, Kale replies that he 'popped his teacher' and the antagonist smiles and says 'I could have killed a few of my teachers at school....'. This invites Kale to be suspicious, the antagonist is encouraging it because he knows Kale has been watching him.

Between the films there is a distinct difference in the time they are set and so the technology involved in the murders is different. In Rear Window it seems much less planned that in Disturbia where he preserves the bodies and keeps them for his own pleasure.

Narratives:

The narrative to both films is very similar as Disturbia is based on Rear Window's plot. However there are a few differences between the films. For example the protagonist in Disturbia, Kale, is under house arrest whilst Jeff in Rear Window has broken his leg and so can't go out, however they are both stuck within their homes, which is why the start to watch people. Both of the protagonists are sure the murder took place, however their friends are slightly suspicious at start and need convincing of the idea.

Both films result in a confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist. However the films differ in the end when in Rear Window Jeff gets another cast put on both his legs so is further house bound, whilst in Disturbia Kale gets his electronic tag taken off of him.

Another difference between the films is that in Disturbia the love interest moves next door to him so it is a new interest we watch unfold, whilst in Rear Window it is an established relationship that has been set up before the film begins.

In both films gardens are involved, they are used to separate the houses/flats and act as a barrier between the antagonist and protagonist, whilst both are within their side of the barrier we know they are safe, it is when they cross this barrier and are either on the wrong side or both are on the same side that we panic. This sense of installing fear is used when somebody goes to investigate the house of the murderer, this happens in both films, however in Disturbia it is the sidekick, his best friend, and in Rear Window it is Jeff's girlfriend. In Disturbia Kale actually sets foot within the antagonist's home however in Rear Window Jeff never leaves his flat.

In both films there is a 'red herring' to distract us from the murderer, their is a party going on and our attention is focused onto that, Ashley's house party and the Musician's party. In Disturbia the police are already against Kale so don't initially believe him, because Kale punched the police officers cousin (who was his teacher), and in Rear Window Jeff's friend is a detective and gradually turns against Jeff and stops believing his version of events.

During Disturbia it takes longer to get to the murder, this may be because they wish to create an atmosphere of something wrong with suburbia, the name Disturbia is a mixture of the two words Suburbia and Disturbed. It is literally like something is disturbing the normal suburbia life of domestic and family. However in Rear Window there is already the busy hustle and bustle of city life with clutter and noise, so it is slightly less shocking because people are too busy to interfere normally with other peoples lives, they have their own things to do.

Themes:

There are some similar themes in both films such as spying, obsession, murder and crime. However Rear Window is more about isolation whilst Disturbia focuses on voyeurism, it has more technology and also a larger environment which the story takes place within. Disturbia also tends to have more comic moments than Rear Window.

Both films feature entrapment within an environment, this is because both protagonists cannot leave their homes, and they also both feature corrupt policemen and boredom as a motive for Kale and Jeff to start watching people which then leads to their suspicion in their neighbour.

In Rear Window there is a motive for the murder, the man's wife is very demanding and he simply cannot stand her any longer. This contrasts with Disturbia when the antagonist is a psychopathic killer, he kills for pleasure rather than anything else. He also preserves the bodies like tokens of his actions.

Disturbia features family relationships, Kale's fathers death and also monitors Kale's mothers trust within him. Rear Window doesn't feature this, there isn't Jeff's family as well as the police doubting him and telling to keep out of trouble.

Iconography:

There are a lot of similarities between the iconography in both films, they both feature windows and binoculars prominently. Both of the protagonists are within their own room for the majority of the film. Natural light and light from bulbs is used extensively, as a result the film is quite darkly lit. Lenses and frames are a key component of the film as this is what we see the action through a lot of the time.

However there are differences such as clothing, in Rear Window Jeff spends his whole time in his pyjamas whilst Kale, in Disturbia wears normal clothes. The setting of the film is also different, Disturbia is within a quiet suburb whilst Rear Window is set in the city.

The murders in Disturbia are a lot more graphic too, we see the woman being chased round the house and we also see dead bodies, whilst we don't ever see a human body or murder in Rear Window.

Both films use bags for the body, in Disturbia the body is dragged downstairs in a blue tarpaulin type bag, and in Rear Window the body parts are carried out in the man's briefcase. Both films also feature dead animals, in Rear Window the neighbours dog is murdered and in Disturbia a deer is hit in a roadkill and a rabbit is also caught in the protagonist's garden where he has set a trap.

Finally both the female love interests are blonde. This gives the idea of classic beauty.