One of my favorite films starring two of my favorite actors with such vivacity that after so many viewings it still remains completely fresh. It is impossible, I should think, to talk about this film without beginning with a talk about Marlon Brando. Of late, I have been watching films with a friend who has little knowledge of cinema outside the realm of Brangelina (not a criticism, of course. Just a fact.). Before this, I introduced him to Casablanca and, by extension, Humphrey Bogart. Bogart has a sophistication, a panache, and something decidedly Hollywood about the way that he moves about and talks. Before watching Streetcar I told this friend of mine to keep Bogart's performance in mind and compare it to Brando as he did not believe when I told him that Brando changed the way that men acted on screen with his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski.
Having seen plenty of films since my last viewing I would say that that statement still holds true. There was not a performance by any actor that I have encountered that brought to the screen such a brutality, a sincerity, and a realism as Brando did to his sweaty, aggressive Pole (not Pollack). I watch him with intensity. He moves about effortlessly as if he actually lived in Stanley's duplex, and knew where everything in every cupboard. Watch him closely and try to spot the points in which he is following direction versus the times in which he simply acts off of impulse. Two in particular: There will be a moment when Stanley in rummaging through bags which are not his. He pulls out a dress with "fine feathers" which go flying. As the camera pans away to follow his wife you will spot him quietly snatching at feathers in the air. The second is a moment in which he tries to console his wife after attacking her sister. As she hides her face against a wall he comes up, strokes her arm and talks softly in her ear. Subconsciously he picks a piece of fuzz off of her back. It isn't forced, it is simply what Stanley would do.
So many actors would have let it all be and simply focused on the task at hand. They would have let the feathers fall and the fuzz remain simply because they would centered on trying to be Stanley Kowalski. But Brando, but the actor beyond all actors is so focused on being Stanley that they have blended into one. He no longer thinks, he simply experiences and it is unparalleled.
But perhaps about the film....
It is 1940's New Orleans and Stella's sister, Blanche DuBois, comes from Mississippi to live with her after losing their estate. Stanley takes an immediate disliking and mistrust to the southern belle schoolteacher with her genteel upbringing and grand prose. He knows there is something amiss long before Blanche's facade begins to crumble. She settles in, she meets a beau, and the storm between her and Stanley rages on. It drives an already fragile mind beyond the brink of sanity, and what remains behind is the tarantula underneath.
Tennessee Williams penned our story, and what a story it is. His writing drips of pomp and wit and eloquence all at once. It is a joy to listen to and, if you should feel so inclined, to read. This, of course, is based off of one of Williams' perfect plays. I only lament that it was not kept in its original form. The story behind the complex creature that is Blanche is far more fascinating than the one that was presented. I feel, however, that if it was kept true it would either have been smeared as unscrupulous or it it would have one every Oscar it was nominated for and would rank as one of the best films of all time. It would have required maybe half a dozen extra lines of dialogue and one scene to be slightly more aggressive--that is its power. But I will leave it to you, reader, to get hold of the play and discover for yourself.
This film also holds the distinct privilege of being directed by its original stage director, Elia Kazan, and stars Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden who were all in the original Broadway cast before it was made into a picture. Vivien Leigh, who played Blanche would later star in the 1949 revival directed by Sir Laurence Olivier. Its cast is stellar, superb, sublime, and any other positive adjective one could think of. The film is quite simply a vehicle for amazing talent to speak the words of the greatest American playwright. It is a masterful work. Long after "The End" fades from the screen you will remember those immortal lines: "Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
4/4
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