In the masterpiece ‘On the Waterfront’ directed by Elia Kazan, shows a wonderful story of a man standing up to a tyrannical rule. For the story of this film is all about the conscience and that is shown throughout the whole movie. And the story about the conscience is based on the past experience of Kazan himself when he had agreed to testify the former associates who were involved with the Communist Party and became a pariah in left-wing circles. Terry Malloy, played by Brando can be considered as the avatar of Kazan in his past. Kazan’s life was a difficult one, full of many difficult decisions.
“I’m with me – Terry”. To what extent is Terry responsible for his own fate. Elia Kazan’s 1954 award winning drama, On the Waterfront, depicts Terry Malloy, an ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman, who is caught up in ties with the corrupt waterfront union, as undergoing a moral and personal transformation. On the Waterfront is a combination of cinema verite, film noir and Italian neo-realism. The elements of film noir, like the use of black and white, ads to the authentic nature of the film, almost touching on the style of a documentary.
Topic: “It is the style of ‘On the Waterfront’ that gives the film its power. Discuss The dark and gloomy “On the Waterfront” is a film revered for its raw power. Though narratively and structurally exceptional, this power should be most accredited to the stylistic nature of its making. Director Elia Kazan employs various techniques encompassing the disciplines of mise-en-scene, film noir, and naturalism that deliver an authentic and gritty work of art. The actors equipped with the newly found, ‘method acting’ disciplines, most notably Marlon Brando, further showcase an honesty and precision of the feelings felt and predicaments overcome by their characters.
In Kazan’s film ‘On the waterfront’ Kazan portrays Terry Malloy, who played by Marlon Brando, as a flawed and troubled man who is heavily influenced by those close to him, such as his older brother Charlie, lover Edie and bold priest Father Barry. Kazan portrays Terry in this way because Kazan wants to show that with the help of god, through Father Barry and Edie, every man no matter how many sins he has committed can make up for them and be redeemed. At the beginning of the film Terry is so heavily influenced by Johnny and the mob he is blind to the fact that what he is doing is morally wrong, Kazan represents Terry’s blindness when Terry sends Joey to the roof top and Terry is oblivious to the real reason as to why Johnny wanted Joey up on the roof top. Joey’s death shakes
David Denby creates a strongly negative view of a popular movie. He first builds a strong ethos via a wide range of background knowledge, builds the common ground between readers who might holds different views and him through logos, and uses great connotation and influential vocabulary and metaphors to validate his illustration by pathos. In terms of ethos, with valid academic background from Columbia College and Stanford University, David Denby is a well-known film critic of the New Yorker. His identity suggests his authenticity in film reviewing and background in the film industry. For instance, he mentioned in the second paragraph that, “The ‘All about Eve’ business with dancers preying on one another was retained from a discarded screenplay by Andres Heinz, who worked on the final version of ‘Black Swan’ with Mark Hyman and John J. Mclaughlin.” By showing the audience insiders’ insights from the film industry, Denby shows his familiarity with
Does the film support Terry’s judgment of himself? The critically acclaimed film On the Waterfront directed by Elia Kazan is a film set in the early 1950’s around the docks of the corrupt and adverse society of New Jersey, following the main character Terry Malloy the story leads through his journey to guide his conscience to the right path with the help of Edie and Father Barry. In the film Terry sees himself as a bum, but through his own actions he can rid his label of being a “Bum”. Such as terry feeling guilt and remorse for Joeys death, the end of the film where Terry testifies against the Dock union run by Johnny Friendly and falling in love with Edie and trying to help himself be a better man. When terry was wrongly put into the situation where he was the key to Joey Doyles death, he was in shock and confused about what had just happened and what position he had
On the Waterfront On the Waterfront is a timeless film that centers on the Dock Workers of New Jersey in the 1950’s and one man’s pursuit of justice and redemption. On the Waterfront was based on a series of investigative pieces published in 1949 by New York City journalist Malcolm Johnson, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize (SparkNotes LLC 2004). The film’s authenticity resonated with audiences. The genuineness of the location, the realism of mob corruption, symbolism and a superb cast and director all lend themselves to films endurance. Although considered one of the best films ever created, it is not without controversy.
Arthur Miller and His Works In the year 1953, the American playwright Arthur Miller wrote one of his most successful plays, The Crucible. It was during this same time that many people accused him of involvement with the Communist Party. If someone were suspected of communist ties in the 1950’s, he was treated harshly because at the beginning of the Cold War era in America, communism was considered America’s most fearful enemy. The plot of The Crucible focuses mainly on false accusations in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The reason Miller chose the subject of false accusation is most likely because the people of his generation accused him of involvement with the Communist party which was analogous to what witchcraft would have been in the late seventeenth century.
His Florida home was under his wife's name, the Chicago home was under his mom and sister's name. Herbert Hoover was annoyed at seeing the Capone name constantly in the headlines, with even so far as seeing the ganglord's face plastered on the March 1930 cover of Time magazine. He was said to have exclaimed "Get that man Capone! ".Al Capone at the time did not seem too concerned. After all, in Chicago,the fix was in.What lead the Government to go after Al, was their successful prosecution of other gangsters, but more specifically his brother Ralph and the uncovering during Ralph's case of five bank accounts in Cicero.
The 1954 film on the waterfront directed by Elia Kazan is about undisputed tyrannical dominion on the New York waterfront and how omnipotent self allocated dictators can be surmounted by those with the right initiative. This is prominently reflected through the plight of Father Barry, terry Malloy and Edie Doyle as seen throughout the text, by their intentions of withstanding injustices served by the malevolent Johnny friendly and his followers. The protagonist Terry Malloy comes across as a naive, introverted character who is enveloped by his torn values, lack of morality and tainted conscience. In the early stages of the text terry felt as though he was compelled to stay true to friendly, a man of whose impious nature terry chose to overlook. Although it is when he meets Edie Doyle that we see a more considerate, kind-hearted side of terry as shown through his conversation with her whilst walking in the park, when Edie questions him by asking terry ‘whose side he is on’ with his reply ‘I’m with me.