Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc

I have Tree In Brookly on the way. If it comes tomorrow I will probably watch it Sunday night. I will try and get to On The Waterfront some time next week as well.

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A Streetcar Named Desire

OK, so I'm going to keep this informal and rabble some, more than usual

When the film starts off with Blanche arriving in the French Quarter of New Orleans, I was pretty excited as I've been to the French Quarter and it does look like that...It has lots of wrought iron railings and old decaying buildings with porch/courtyards.

When we first meet Blanch DuBois, I though Vivien Leigh's performance was a bit too theatrical. As the movie went on I warmed up to her...I also remembered that she had done the British stage play of Streetcar Named Desire. So I guessed that her style of acting was more from British theater.

During the movie I paid attention to her delivery and at one point I actually said to my wife that Vivien sounded like she was channeling Laurence Olivier. Of course I knew she was married to him. But...I was total blown away by what I read at IMDB after watching the movie.

Vivien Leigh...later said that Olivier's direction of that production [Streetcar Called Desire] influenced her performance in the film more than Elia Kazan's direction of the film did.

I knew it...and it's not surprising either as Kazan said he didn't really direct the actors he just set them in the right place and let them do their own thing.

Kazan was a very successful stage director and had directed Streetcar for two years before making the movie. It was a highly successful play and the original cast (Brando,Hunter,Malden) were all brought over for the movie, with one exception, Jessica Tandy who played Blanche on the stage.

This was Brando's first big movie role and he blew the doors off it! Like the other actors he's a method actor and really brings a dynamic to his role with his childlike honesty, coupled with a violent suspicious nature. He has the best lines in the movie too. I love the scene where he's going through Blanche's trunk and telling Stella about Napoleonic laws.


Good stuff! I liked Karl Malden alot too. As the film went on I started to really care about Blanche and once again Vivien Leigh made an impression on me.

My favorite scenes was the aforementioned Trunk scene and the romantic scene with Mitch and Stella on the front steps.

The very last scene when Stella is being taken away and she's gone to pieces on the floor and she stands up and the older man removes his hat and offers his arm to her, that made me a bit teary eyed.

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I couldn't stop thinking how similar Leigh's character is here to Scarlett. Poor girl got type cast. She is way over the top but I think it fits both characters.

I love the scene with the trunk as well Citizen. Probably the most humorous scene. I could watch Brando rant and rave all day.

Great write up Citizen. I may watch Waterfront today, at the latest Wednesday.

Did you see what Brando did when he pulled out a feathered boa of Blanche's an a tiny feather is floating in the air?

Sorry I'm just noticing this. Yes, I noticed that right off. The images were so stark in this film, great cinematography.

What a surprise this was. I wasn't knowing what to expect at all but when I watch an older movie that I have never even heard of my expectations are always pretty low. This was an absolute delightful little slice of life film. I love the tug of war between being content and working hard to make your life better and being a big dreamer. The film wears its themes on its sleeve throughout and for me it works wonderfully because of it. The dialogue is sharp, poignant, and humorous which makes it right in my wheelhouse. I love the main character. She is a child actor and does a great job. I also love the mother and the aunt. The aunt brings a lot of levity to her scenes. The only actor I didn't care for was the father. The character is well written and drives the juxtaposition of the film but the performance is not all that great in my opinion.

The look of the movie is good, even if it isn't really all that special. Again, you can notice the way Kazan uses shadow effectively. Not as much as in Streetcar, but it's there at times. The little crammed apartment conveys the proper sense of poverty. the streets of Brooklyn are alive and full. There is an effective juxtaposition between the two schools attended by our protagonist as well. We should feel the weight of that, and we do. Maybe my only gripe is the family moves upstairs to what is supposed to be a cheaper apartment at one point. It is not a nice living area by any means, but it does actually feel bigger. It is more of an open space and we see more of it. Very small grip but it did come to my mind a couple times during the viewing.

I'm very glad Raul wanted us to watch this. I probably never would have seen it otherwise and I really loved my time with it. Definitely will be on my 40's list as well.

I'm glad you like it and yes I was pleasantly surprised as well. I guess I could see how you would feel that way about the father.

I have put off my On the Waterfront rewatch too long, it's happening this week fellas.

I'm going to try and get to Waterfront this weekend as well. It will definitely be next. If I can't find Citizen's pick I will still watch a fifth Kazan in the next two weeks.

Raul are you going to watch Hitchcock movies with the club?

Nevermind, I can rent Wild River on Vudu. I swear I checked there. Anyway, cool, I might finish this week and do a best of Kazan write-up after.

I never thought of that, very well could be. Only problem with that would be he called a lot of attention to the fact it was supposed to be cheaper and smaller. Super tiny gripe, it's the kind of thing that you remember from a viewing though.

I had the same thoughts go through my head when they got to the bigger apartment. I thought it was an upgrade It was only later that I heard Kazan talk about the apartment size on the Streetcar set.

Did you know they filmed Streetcar in chronological sequence, just like a play would be watched. That's almost unheard of in movie making.

Kazan explained that there was basically only 2 main sets, (the apartment and the porch/street area), so those two sets were allowed to remain standing during shooting as the room wasn't needed for anything else. Kazan accredit that to part of the reason why the actors were able to give such powerful performances.

I need to dig into the extras on the Blu-ray I bought. I always love that kind of stuff when I watch it. Almost always I would rather get another film in though. Lots of interesting tidbits, I need to take the time. I was reading a bit after my viewing last week. There is a lot of interesting stuff concerning the final couple of scenes and how they dealt with the rape as well.

Elia Kazan collection on Blu Ray would be awesome! I wish I could afford it. I'd say he's my fav director.

But yeah good stuff on the DVD extras, especially the interviews with an older Kazan. He's a very cool guy, straight forward, and talks about his directorial style and the actors.

I've learned a lot here...so thanks to you and Raul for letting me join in on this Director Dissection I hope we can get some people for your Hitch schedule idea, should be solid!

No doubt I will join on the Hitchcock movie club. I will also do a "Best" Kazan post after Waterfront.


I think you will also like Wild River Sean.

I'm watching Waterfront tonight, did I already say that.

My third time spending a couple hours with this all time great. I seem to like it more each time. My problem my first two watches centered around the ending. As with most films the more I watch it the more that lessens. The ending wasn't my favorite but it didn't bother me at all this time and it didn't seem to last as long. Like Streetcar, Brando is the driving force. I do want to give Kazan some credit for that though because I really feel that Brando's performances match up well when talking about Dean in East Of Eden. I call these performances mannered, and personally I love all three of these performances. Not only does Brando command the screen but he adds all these little quirks that make the performance so endearing. The way he puts his hands in his jacket, puts on Edie's glove, wears his grapple hook on his shoulder, and pops birdseed into his mouth. All this little nuance and quirk makes Brando and this film really something special.

The character is so special it almost makes his arc obsolete. That's not the case though, the way this character is written is excellent as well. I love that this character is so conflicted right from the start. It is obvious he has been thrust into this world and fits well in it, but he is not entirely sure it is where he wants to be. His main desire is to be content and he does whatever he has to do to achieve those means. He is very uncomfortable with the violence that goes on within the organization which makes him the perfect catalyst for change. I could possibly see people having a complaint about the way his relationship goes with Edie. It feels a bit under developed, but for me I was fine with it because I like the time we get to spend with some of the other characters as well.

I love Malden here, as I usually do. He is given more screen time than I remember and is given some really nice speeches. Special shout out to Malden, but all the supporting performances are really good. I recognized quite a few faces in this. Again, the cinematography is well executed if not exceptional. Kazan works well in small spaces but I think I always want a bit more of the landscapes in his films as well. You never get the feeling of a sprawling metropolis. Maybe this is on purpose and just speaks more to my taste in these types of films.

I have said a lot but I need to talk about the storytelling just a bit. I really like how this film builds. I mentioned before having slight problems with the ending that kept me in the 4/5 range with this film. Everything that comes before it is done so perfectly though. It is like a fuse that eventually has to blow something up. In that way I do think the ending works because of how well crafted the building is that comes before.

This is a movie I had a lot of love for coming in but I think it has grown in my estimation on this watch. Not quite Streetcar level, but pretty darn close.

You beat me to reviewing On The Waterfront I watched that last night, and it's still fresh in my mind, so what you wrote really made sense to me. Excellent write up, I enjoyed reading it. And I agree with like 95% of what you said too. I love that film! I have to go back to work...but I will post my thoughts latter tonight. I'm not sure if you or Raul choose that one, but great choice!

Your review has me excited to watch it tomorrow Sean. Do we all just have one movie left then? I'm glad all three of us have been on the same pace, makes it great for discussions.