On the Waterfront (1954)
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Review #1,102 |
THE SCOOP
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
Plot: An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.
Genre: Crime / Drama
Awards: Won Silver Lion, OCIC Award, Pasinetti (Venice). Won 8 Oscars - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. Nom. for 4 Oscars - Best Supporting Actor (x3), Best Music.
Runtime: 108min
Rating: PG for some mature themes.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
“Hey, you wanna hear my
philosophy of life? Do it to him before
he does it to you.”
In
perhaps one of his most memorable roles, apart from his starring turn in The Godfather (1972), Last Tango in Paris (1972) and his
'cameo' in Apocalypse Now (1979),
Marlon Brando gives a stunning performance as Terry Malloy, a lowly labour
worker, whose brother has close ties to his corrupted boss who has an iron grip
over the workers' union, choosing when to give people jobs, paying them low
wages, and subjecting them to rough treatment.
The
setting is a waterfront, where shipments come in and out every day. The workers long for a shipment from Dublin,
if only to appease their desire for Irish whiskey. The conditions are appalling, and the boss,
king of a small underworld empire that dominate the trade, doesn't spare any
sympathy to those who speak out against him.
He simply murders them to keep them silent.
In
such a circumstance, it is befitting of Terry, a former prized fighter who
according to himself could have been a contender (the film's most famous line),
to take matters in his own hands when things become abject and his conscience
stirred.
Directed
by Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront is a
Hollywood classic, and one of the great films of the 1950s. Its themes of corruption and redemption still
resonate today, even if the film doesn't quite feel as compelling as expected.
After
a slow first-third where characters are established and put in their places,
the narrative starts to become more interesting when a romance subplot and
another subplot centering on a preaching priest begin to unfold around
Terry. It has to be said that Brando's
screen presence and his raw, street-level portrayal of Terry has greatly helped
the film to achieve a kind of intensity not often seen in Hollywood pictures of
that period.
Composer
Leonard Bernstein's opening notes appear to have inspired Jerry Goldsmith's
score for L.A. Confidential (1997),
particularly its main theme. The music
in Kazan's film is not exactly an outstanding one, but it provides the 'melo'
in this melodrama effectively. Its
dramatic flair, and quite superb performances from the cast, give the film a
more emotional feel in an otherwise straightforward affair.
Hence
the melodrama, and perhaps why despite being essentially a crime picture about
the lower rungs of society ruled by an oppressive lord, it retains a poetic
quality of individual triumph against the tramplers, with its spirit of freedom
and redemption continuing to inspire.
Verdict: Backed by a stunning performance by Marlon
Brando, this drama about corruption and redemption is a Hollywood classic.
GRADE: A-
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