Why it's here:
Marlon Brando. That's enough of a reason, right?
Specs:
Not quite 2 hours long, black and white. It is available on dvd which we found at our library.
Our family's average rating:
8.0
More about the film and our reaction to it:
I really struggled with whether to show this one to my kids. In fact, I pre-viewed it just to see. The content
is quite intense and unsettling, but the movie is powerful and exceptionally good, so I gave them some warnings and we watched.
To start with the reason for having included this film in our festival: Marlon Brando is an amazing actor. We were all very moved by his performance. Brando, as everyone knows, is famous as a proponent of a new style of acting - the method - that started to take hold in the 50s. I don't really know (or care) that much about acting theory, but I will say that his style of performance was clearly different -- earthier, more emotional, earnest, and real -- than the classic Hollywood style we have become used to. It takes the viewer by force in this film. Two instances that make my heart still thump include the iconic "I could have been a contender" scene with his brother in the car and a simple moment when, walking through a park with Eva Marie Saint, he stoops to pick up a glove she's dropped, fingers it absentmindedly, then puts it on his own hand. These moments are incredible and beautiful, as is his whole performance.
Now, for the ugly, because the film depicts something very ugly -- the mob-controlled union on the dockyards in New Jersey. The film (like
High Noon) is all about characters making hard choices and is steeped in allegory about the ongoing red scare and its effect on Hollywood. You don't have to care about symbolic meaning to appreciate the film.
Parents should be aware that, though gritty and upsetting in theme, there is not a great deal of violence or gore actually shown on screen; plenty is implied though. Several deaths do occur (just offscreen) and they are fairly grusome (someone is thrown from a roof, another has a heavy load of bottles dropped on him, another is shot and then suspended from a hook). Though the deaths may not be seen directly, their aftermath is. All of this would elevate the film to a PG-13. Though my 11 year old watched and really liked the film, I would not generally recommend it for 11 year olds. It is probably best suited to the 13+ set. ...and that's not just because of the violence, but for the fact that most kids under 13+ probably wouldn't be that interested in the grown-up themes of unions, and mob power, what it means to rat people out and when its OK to do that.
One of the best parts of the film was the awesome character and performance of the waterfront priest played by Karl Malden. He really helped you feel like you had an anchor in all the tension going on and was occassionally funny and uniformly charming. Likewise, Eva Marie Saint was an awesome grounding force in the film that I was very grateful for.
We recommend this film highly for slightly older or more mature kids and teens.
Iconic image:
