On the Waterfront

I know nothing of Elia Kazan except his work and this is all I need to know. More than once I have started watching a movie not realizing it was his, but was drawn into the story told through the film and the look and the feel of the film. It hardly gets better than On the Waterfront.

All the elements come together and Kazan, sitting as a weaver at the loom, pulls the separate threads of actors and script, setting and lighting, camera work and set decoration into one fine story.

Seeing it just days after the death of Karl Malden made each time he was on the screen something of a tribute to him. This is what he did so well...hold the moral compass, be the one who will do right or be the catalyst for another doing right.

And Brando’s Terry is the character reeling from the torment between head and heart, a guy who just wants to be a player in his own life but is caught in a place and a time manipulated by others.

There are films I like because of a certain elements; I like this one because all the elements are certain.