This article includes film stills. If you would like to see the illustrated version click here.
http://www.filmofileshideout.com/archives/favorite-scenes-no7-a-streetcar-named-desire
A Streetcar Named Desire was the result of a confluence of great talent. Elia Kazan directed it for Warner Brothers in 1951. The screenplay was written by Tennessee Williams who had also written the original play. The scene, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Napoleonic Code Scene, stared Kim Hunter, and Marlon Brando.
The scene serves partially as an exposition to further familiarize the audience with Blanche and her back story. She is not present, she’s in the tub, but her suitcase is a stand-in for her. It is full of illusory elegance and affectation. Her sister, Stella, defends Blanche’s carefully folded things while the sweaty, brutish Stanley tries to roughly. rifle through them. It creates not only emotional tension but seems to almost foreshadow physical assault
The heart of the scene is a two-minute single shot where the camera keeps a medium distance and only pivots slightly to keep the characters in the frame. The scene, like the entire film, retains some of the qualities of the stage play that was its origin. There is however a very important difference. The acting style has been drastically altered by the addition of microphones. Cinema had not quite caught up to the potential of its own technology and it took actors like Marlon Brando to illustrate how to fully exploit the new medium.
Brando plays half the scene with his mouth full of food. At one point he shoves a whole chicken wing in his mouth. He mispronounces words, he mumbles, he slurs his sentences, none of which would be possible on a stage in a theater. In the film, there is undoubtedly a boom mic hanging over his head, and it can pick up every bit of Brando’s utterances. Every nuance, every snort, every subtle shift of timbre is clearly captured. Brando knows this and he uses it to great advantage. His character, Stanley, comes to life with a force and a presence not seen on screen before.
This new power heightens our sense of social class. Stanley is Polish, an “ethnic,” working-class immigrant. He’s an uncultured, uneducated, bruiser who knows he has caught himself a good thing in Stella. He doesn’t want Blanche, the pretentious interloper, to turn Stella against him.
The beauty of Tennessee Williams’ writing is the profound depth of the characters he creates. These are fully render
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It is Blanche DuBois who states this quotation in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. In this drama from 1947, two worlds, embodied by the two characters of Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski, clash.
“Whoever you are, i have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” :(
Watched it for the first time after studying it in English literature. I don’t think it would’ve hit as hard if i didn’t know the intention behind everything Williams wrote in the play.
A Streetcar Named Desire, a play by a Southern playwright Tennessee Williams, presents the problems of the United States after both wars and Great Depression. It also touches the issues of immigrant families and the old settlers.
But that's not my aria of expertise.
I watched A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) last night. It was basically filmed as a play, which gave it a certain charm. The set was amazing! Marlon Brando was so good as Stanley Kowalski, you can see why he was considered one of the best.
I was disappointed with Vivien Leigh, a lot of people seem to love her performance. I found Leigh to be way overacting. A lot of staring into space with exaggerated hand gestures. Ugh.
I really liked the movie until Stanley raped Blanche, that really ruined it for me. Through all of Stanley's faults, you could see how much he loved Stella - until that scene happened. Maybe the play is better (I have never seen it), but that was really off-putting; I felt as though it really ruined the character.
Her mental instability has long fascinated me, as tragic as her character arc is.
I'm doing a school project on the play and we have to make pop culture connections to the play, and I think it would be a good idea to find an anime connection. Does anyone know of any anime that have similar plots or situations that occur? Thank you so much!
Tennessee Williams is a genius. But will I ever recover from this I wonder.
I haven’t seen it in at least a year or so. I wanted to say that the movie’s portrayal of Blanche, and her actively declining mental health was something I found interesting about the film - I felt sorry for Blanche due to Vivian Leigh’s performance (I have also seen Gone with the wind before so that made it twice as interesting to me) yet I was also disgusted by her (won’t spoil why if you have never seen the film before.)
Stanley and Stella’s dynamic was also fascinating to watch, however unfortunate… it’s sad to think of how their child may turn out. I couldn’t help but wonder how they got together, even though there was obviously a mutual attraction present
Week 21 - A Streetcar Named Desire [1951]
Based on the Tennessee Williams play of the same name, “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a movie that broke film barriers in 1951 but never caught my interest today. The film features Vivian Leigh (of Gone With the Wind) playing Blanche Dubois (another southern belle who came from affluence and lost everything). Down on her luck, she moves in with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter), who lives in a dingy 2-room flat in New Orleans. Blanche immediately clashes with her brother-in-law Stanley (Marlin Brando), who digs to uncover Blanche’s murky past with all the sensitivity of a raging alcoholic.
Though an ok premise, I personally found the film boring from the start. There’s something about stage-play adaptations that tends to feel one dimensional and fake to me. I recognize the literary source material is revered, but when on screen, the dialogue is unconvincing and the stakes feel lowered. The depiction of sexuality, groundbreaking at the time, had all the modern-titillation of an exposed ankle and the ‘shocking climax’ seemed to come out of left field. And not to be a Snowflake, but even with his gradual framing as the antagonist, I can’t help but feel the film somehow glorifies Stanley’s toxic masculinity by focusing on how attractive Brando was as he raged in his sweaty, tight, sometimes torn off shirts.
Recognizing this, I gotta admit that Marlin Brando’s performance was the breakout of the film (apparently one of the film’s claim-to-fame is it’s the first film to feature a modern “method” acting style). And he does act his ass off in circles around his co-stars. The fact that Brando played so modern and real against Leigh’s classical-largeness actually aided the depiction of Blanche and Stanley as diametric opposites. Finally, in a film about secrets, I loved the use of light and shadows as physical symbols of the story.
Though still somehow mustering a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, this film has landed near the bottom of my list, likely the result of an aging story mismatching my preferences. But if this is was the film I have to suffer through to get “On The Waterfront” (made by the same director, lead, and supporting), then it was worth it.
he’s just got the whole attempt at the alpha male thing going and i don’t know what elizabeth sees in him outside of this. maybe it’s super hot for her or something i’m really not sure
andrei even has the whole american dream idea that’s in the play which stanley is all about. plus he wants to use/feels entitled to his wife’s family money because of his marriage to her. i don’t know it just seems like there’s a lot of parallels there
it is EXTREMELY possible that i am reading way too much into this and making connection where there isn’t one but if anyone else sees this similarly too please validate me!
This article includes film stills. If you would like to see the illustrated version click here.
http://www.filmofileshideout.com/archives/favorite-scenes-no7-a-streetcar-named-desire
A Streetcar Named Desire was the result of a confluence of great talent. Elia Kazan directed it for Warner Brothers in 1951. The screenplay was written by Tennessee Williams who had also written the original play. The scene, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Napoleonic Code Scene, stared Kim Hunter, and Marlon Brando.
The scene serves partially as an exposition to further familiarize the audience with Blanche and her back story. She is not present, she’s in the tub, but her suitcase is a stand-in for her. It is full of illusory elegance and affectation. Her sister, Stella, defends Blanche’s carefully folded things while the sweaty, brutish Stanley tries to roughly. rifle through them. It creates not only emotional tension but seems to almost foreshadow physical assault
The heart of the scene is a two-minute single shot where the camera keeps a medium distance and only pivots slightly to keep the characters in the frame. The scene, like the entire film, retains some of the qualities of the stage play that was its origin. There is however a very important difference. The acting style has been drastically altered by the addition of microphones. Cinema had not quite caught up to the potential of its own technology and it took actors like Marlon Brando to illustrate how to fully exploit the new medium.
Brando plays half the scene with his mouth full of food. At one point he shoves a whole chicken wing in his mouth. He mispronounces words, he mumbles, he slurs his sentences, none of which would be possible on a stage in a theater. In the film, there is undoubtedly a boom mic hanging over his head, and it can pick up every bit of Brando’s utterances. Every nuance, every snort, every subtle shift of timbre is clearly captured. Brando knows this and he uses it to great advantage. His character, Stanley, comes to life with a force and a presence not seen on screen before.
This new power heightens our sense of social class. Stanley is Polish, an “ethnic,” working-class immigrant. He’s an uncultured, uneducated, bruiser who knows he has caught himself a good thing in Stella. He doesn’t want Blanche, the pretentious interloper, to turn Stella against him.
The beauty of Tennessee Will
... keep reading on reddit ➡A Streetcar Named Desire was the result of a confluence of great talent. Elia Kazan directed it for Warner Brothers in 1951. The screenplay was written by Tennessee Williams who had also written the original play. The scene, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Napoleonic Code Scene, stared Kim Hunter, and Marlon Brando.
The scene serves partially as an exposition to further familiarize the audience with Blanche and her back story. She is not present, she’s in the tub, but her suitcase is a stand-in for her. It is full of illusory elegance and affectation. Her sister, Stella, defends Blanche’s carefully folded things while the sweaty, brutish Stanley tries to roughly. rifle through them. It creates not only emotional tension but seems to almost foreshadow physical assault
The heart of the scene is a two-minute single shot where the camera keeps a medium distance and only pivots slightly to keep the characters in the frame. The scene, like the entire film, retains some of the qualities of the stage play that was its origin. There is however a very important difference. The acting style has been drastically altered by the addition of microphones. Cinema had not quite caught up to the potential of its own technology and it took actors like Marlon Brando to illustrate how to fully exploit the new medium.
Brando plays half the scene with his mouth full of food. At one point he shoves a whole chicken wing in his mouth. He mispronounces words, he mumbles, he slurs his sentences, none of which would be possible on a stage in a theater. In the film, there is undoubtedly a boom mic hanging over his head, and it can pick up every bit of Brando’s utterances. Every nuance, every snort, every subtle shift of timbre is clearly captured. Brando knows this and he uses it to great advantage. His character, Stanley, comes to life with a force and a presence not seen on screen before.
This new power heightens our sense of social class. Stanley is Polish, an “ethnic,” working-class immigrant. He’s an uncultured, uneducated, bruiser who knows he has caught himself a good thing in Stella. He doesn’t want Blanche, the pretentious interloper, to turn Stella against him.
The beauty of Tennessee Williams’ writing is the profound depth of the characters he creates. These are fully rendered, multidimensional people with complex and conflicting motivations. Stanley thinks he cares about the money Blanche may have squandered and focuses on it. He doesn’t fully recognize his
... keep reading on reddit ➡A Streetcar Named Desire was the result of a confluence of great talent. Elia Kazan directed it for Warner Brothers in 1951. The screenplay was written by Tennessee Williams who had also written the original play. The scene, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Napoleonic Code Scene, stared Kim Hunter, and Marlon Brando.
The scene serves partially as an exposition to further familiarize the audience with Blanche and her back story. She is not present, she’s in the tub, but her suitcase is a stand-in for her. It is full of illusory elegance and affectation. Her sister, Stella, defends Blanche’s carefully folded things while the sweaty, brutish Stanley tries to roughly. rifle through them. It creates not only emotional tension but seems to almost foreshadow physical assault
The heart of the scene is a two-minute single shot where the camera keeps a medium distance and only pivots slightly to keep the characters in the frame. The scene, like the entire film, retains some of the qualities of the stage play that was its origin. There is however a very important difference. The acting style has been drastically altered by the addition of microphones. Cinema had not quite caught up to the potential of its own technology and it took actors like Marlon Brando to illustrate how to fully exploit the new medium.
Brando plays half the scene with his mouth full of food. At one point he shoves a whole chicken wing in his mouth. He mispronounces words, he mumbles, he slurs his sentences, none of which would be possible on a stage in a theater. In the film, there is undoubtedly a boom mic hanging over his head, and it can pick up every bit of Brando’s utterances. Every nuance, every snort, every subtle shift of timbre is clearly captured. Brando knows this and he uses it to great advantage. His character, Stanley, comes to life with a force and a presence not seen on screen before.
This new power heightens our sense of social class. Stanley is Polish, an “ethnic,” working-class immigrant. He’s an uncultured, uneducated, bruiser who knows he has caught himself a good thing in Stella. He doesn’t want Blanche, the pretentious interloper, to turn Stella against him.
The beauty of Tennessee Williams’ writing is the profound depth of the characters he creates. These are fully rendered, multidimensional people with complex and conflicting motivations. Stanley thinks he cares about the money Blanche may have squandered and focuses on it. He doesn’t fully recognize his
... keep reading on reddit ➡A Streetcar Named Desire was the result of a confluence of great talent. Elia Kazan directed it for Warner Brothers in 1951. The screenplay was written by Tennessee Williams who had also written the original play. The scene, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Napoleonic Code Scene, stared Kim Hunter, and Marlon Brando.
The scene serves partially as an exposition to further familiarize the audience with Blanche and her back story. She is not present, she’s in the tub, but her suitcase is a stand-in for her. It is full of illusory elegance and affectation. Her sister, Stella, defends Blanche’s carefully folded things while the sweaty, brutish Stanley tries to roughly. rifle through them. It creates not only emotional tension but seems to almost foreshadow physical assault
The heart of the scene is a two-minute single shot where the camera keeps a medium distance and only pivots slightly to keep the characters in the frame. The scene, like the entire film, retains some of the qualities of the stage play that was its origin. There is however a very important difference. The acting style has been drastically altered by the addition of microphones. Cinema had not quite caught up to the potential of its own technology and it took actors like Marlon Brando to illustrate how to fully exploit the new medium.
Brando plays half the scene with his mouth full of food. At one point he shoves a whole chicken wing in his mouth. He mispronounces words, he mumbles, he slurs his sentences, none of which would be possible on a stage in a theater. In the film, there is undoubtedly a boom mic hanging over his head, and it can pick up every bit of Brando’s utterances. Every nuance, every snort, every subtle shift of timbre is clearly captured. Brando knows this and he uses it to great advantage. His character, Stanley, comes to life with a force and a presence not seen on screen before.
This new power heightens our sense of social class. Stanley is Polish, an “ethnic,” working-class immigrant. He’s an uncultured, uneducated, bruiser who knows he has caught himself a good thing in Stella. He doesn’t want Blanche, the pretentious interloper, to turn Stella against him.
The beauty of Tennessee Williams’ writing is the profound depth of the characters he creates. These are fully rendered, multidimensional people with complex and conflicting motivations. Stanley thinks he cares about the money Blanche may have squandered and focuses on it. He doesn’t fully recognize his
... keep reading on reddit ➡)