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Four-star movie: On the Waterfront
Aug. 28th, 2015 05:55 pmOn the Waterfront
Director: Elia Kazan
1954
This movie is so iconic that there's not much new I can say about it, but I do have a theory. I talk about a lot of movies being dark and depressing, but this one should have been more dark and depressing: it has a more-or-less happy ending that wasn't mirrored in real life. In the movie, Marlon Brando's character testified against the mobsters and the implication was that the union was taking back control. In reality the character Brando was loosely based on was murdered, and the mob stayed in charge.
It's often said that this movie was Elia Kazan's answer to people who looked down on him for naming names to HUAC. He often denied that, but if it was the case, even unconsciously, then he had an incentive to make a movie where testifying had a good outcome.
I saw this movie back in 1973, at summer camp, and didn't follow it very well. I still think it's a complicated movie, and the best message to be taken out of it is that in some situations there aren't any easy answers.
Director: Elia Kazan
1954
This movie is so iconic that there's not much new I can say about it, but I do have a theory. I talk about a lot of movies being dark and depressing, but this one should have been more dark and depressing: it has a more-or-less happy ending that wasn't mirrored in real life. In the movie, Marlon Brando's character testified against the mobsters and the implication was that the union was taking back control. In reality the character Brando was loosely based on was murdered, and the mob stayed in charge.
It's often said that this movie was Elia Kazan's answer to people who looked down on him for naming names to HUAC. He often denied that, but if it was the case, even unconsciously, then he had an incentive to make a movie where testifying had a good outcome.
I saw this movie back in 1973, at summer camp, and didn't follow it very well. I still think it's a complicated movie, and the best message to be taken out of it is that in some situations there aren't any easy answers.
