Windows (film)

Background

Willis was the cinematographer of some of the most acclaimed films of the 1970s, among them The Godfather (and its sequel, The Godfather Part II), All the President's Men, Annie Hall and others. This would be his only attempt at directing a movie.

Plot

Emily Hollander (Shire) is the subject of a lesbian obsession of Andrea Glassen (Ashley), her next-door neighbor.

Emily, a shy, recently divorced woman, lives alone in a New York apartment. A man forces his way into her apartment and performs a bizarre "rape." He forces her to make sounds of erotic satisfaction, capturing them on his tape recorder. She reports the attack to the police, and while they are interviewing her, Andrea stops by to comfort her.

Emily seeks safety by moving to an apartment in another section of the city. However, while she is moving out, the same man tries to attack her again. This time Andrea conveniently passes by, and is able to prevent the man from entering Emily's apartment.

It becomes apparent that Andrea is not the helpful neighbor that she seems. For starters, she has the recording that was made during Emily's first attack. Andrea has developed an erotic fascination with Emily, apparently developed as she observed Emily through the apartment's windows. She hired a taxi driver to perform the attacks, with the purpose of gaining the recording, to which she repeatedly listens while fantasizing of Emily. Unaware of the situation, Emily continues to view Andrea as a friend. She also begins a relationship with the policeman (Cortese) who responded to her case. At this intrusion into her fantasy, Andrea becomes increasingly unhinged. She takes to spying on Emily through a telescope.

When Emily unwittingly hails a taxi driven by the very man who assaulted her, he strikes up a conversation "because you look familiar." She finally realizes who the man is and asks him to stop at a phone booth. She calls the police, who, amazingly, advise her to get back into the taxi and engage the man in harmless conversation until they can arrive to assist her.

With the taxi driver getting arrested and confessing to the entire plot, Emily and Andrea have a confrontation. Andrea professes her love for Emily, but Emily slaps her hard on the face and tells a devastated, weeping Andrea that they will never speak to each other again. Her ordeal over, Emily greets the detective at her front door.

Main cast

Talia Shire as Emily Hollander

Joseph Cortese as Bob Luffrono

Elizabeth Ashley as Andrea Glassen

Kay Medford as Ida Marx

Michael Gorrin as Sam Marx

Russell Horton as Steven Hollander

Michael Lipton as Dr. Marin

Rick Petrucelli as Lawrence Obecny

Ron Ryan as Detective Swid

Linda Gillen as Police Woman

Tony DiBenedetto as Nick

Supporting cast

Bryce Bond as Voice-over

Ken Chapin as Renting Agent

Marty Greene as Ira

Bill Handy as Desk Officer

Robert Hodge as Desk Sergeant

Kyle Scott Jackson as Detective

Pat McNamara as Doorman

Gerry Vichi as Ben

Ilana Rapp as Student (uncredited)

Criticism

The film was the subject of many protests from gay rights activists who accused the film of being homophobic and resorting to hateful stereotypes of lesbians. David Denby attacked the film, saying "Windows exists only in the perverted fantasies of men who hate lesbians so much they will concoct any idiocy in order to slander them."

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of Sneak Previews.

Gordon Willis admitted the film had been a mistake, and later said of directing that he didn't really like it. "I've had a good relationship with actors," he reflected, "but I can do what I do and back off. I don't want that much romancing. I don't want them to call me up at two in the morning saying, 'I don't know who I am'".