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Originally Posted by h8kurdt
I'm of the opinion that Hitchcock was only at his best when he limited himself with locations etc. I'd quite happily go the rest of my life never seeing Vertigo (HOW that film was voted Sight and Sound's best film ever is beyond me), North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much etc. again.
The opposite is true for Rear Window, Rope and the like. Honestly, the films where he had free reign in the story to go wherever bore the hell out of me.
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I've never thought of it quite that way before, but I think you're right. In television, they call it a "bottleneck" episode when the entire thing takes place in one location, with only a handful of characters. These episodes are often revered, standing apart from the rest of the series (see Breaking Bad'a Emmy-winning "The Fly"). I think a lot of feature length films that use these strategies stand out as well. Like Rear Window, Wait Until Dark, etc., and I think part of this is because it kind of forces everyone involved to go to the limits of their comfort zones, and to bring nothing less than their A-game acting, directing, screenwriting. If they don't, the film won't hold anyone's attention.
Rear Window holds my attention. I've seen it more than any other Hitchcock film, and I'd watch it again right fucking now. Honestly I consider it one of my top 10 favorite films of all time, and have for as long as I can remember.