On the Waterfront

Before watching Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront I, admittedly, was somewhat prejudice against older films. Many factors that I associate with good films such as unique film angles, filming quality, realistic effects, and music are lacking in “oldies” compared to modern rivals. I believe my personal prejudices, unfortunately, adversely affect my responses to films like this one. Despite my expectations, I approached this film with an open mind, hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the film’s thematic elements. And, for the most part, I was indeed pleasantly entertained.

In my opinion, it seems clear that this film’s thematic elements focus on ideas. And as the textbook suggests, the first step in identifying the central idea is accurately identifying the abstract subject of the film in a single word. I would summarize On the Waterfront as a film about courage. Additionally, the film’s central idea could fall into a couple categories such as: social problems or the struggle for human dignity. The category of social problems is appropriate because the film, based on a series of articles by Malcolm Johnson about corrupt longshoremen's unions on the New York docks, tells a story of courage to stand up to the corrupt social norms that were prevalent in that time and place. In addition to standing up against corruption, the character played by Marlon Brando struggles for human dignity despite being referred to as a “bum” throughout the film. Also, more generally speaking, I believe the film attempted to show the “common man” claiming basic human dignity over the mobsters and union leaders.

In regard to evaluating the film’s theme, I believe the film’s basic appeal was to the moral sense and to the viewer’s heart. Although Phillip Lopate’s article criticizes the preist’s “hammy sermons, and Christ symbolism”, I believe, these metaphors were appropriate for the setting in which the characters were portrayed. Although this type of story has been told many times and was somewhat predictable, the universality of the film’s theme, coupled with the film’s unique style and texture, has produced a classic that holds truth for any generation of movie viewer.