Plus, what's happening on the waterfront isn't just human wickedness and corruption and murder—it's also courage. Terry's courageous walk happens on the waterfront, and so does Father Barry's stirring speech about Christ. The waterfront's a place of conflict; a place where human destinies are being shaped and characters are being tested.
Two dramatic works, a play The Crucible, written by playwright Arthur Miller and On the Waterfront, a film directed by Elia Kazan can both be seen as parables that are illustrative of the events of the McCarthy Era itself. The play and film have similarities dealing with power, corruption, executions, fear, hearings and trials. Both texts have.
While the image of Marlon Brando in the film has become an icon of 'the fifties', On the Waterfront relates most strongly to the post-war decade that preceded its release in 1954. Context is provided by three interrelated circles of events, the first of which is the ideological and cultural conflict that dominated the late forties and early.
On the Waterfront (1954) is a classic, award-winning, controversial film directed by Elia Kazan - a part drama and part gangster film. The authentic-looking, powerful film is concerned with the problems of trade unionism, corruption and racketeering. And it is set on New York's oppressive waterfront.
Possible Approaches to Writing about Film Given the rich complexity of film as art, as a cultural product, and as a tool of social commentary there are a variety of scholarly approaches you can take to writing a film essay: NOTE: Both 1 and 2 are examples of a formal analysis, where you examine in detail a formal aspect of the film.
Conscience. That stuff can drive you nuts. So says Terry Malloy, the longshoreman who testifies against his union in “On the Waterfront.” The line, said by Marlon Brando, resonates all through the picture because the story is about conscience--and so is the story behind the story.This was the film made in 1954 by Elia Kazan after he agreed to testify before the House Un-American Activities.