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Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
USA, 1951
Rated PG (strong thematic elements)
THE DETERIORATION OF HUMANITY
For screen adaptations of theater, there’s always a notion that the movie is simply a filmed play.
I have read a couple of the great Tennessee Williams’ plays and A Streetcar Named Desire is very
similar to the movie version. The film, starring Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl
Malden in performances that have become touchstones for powerful acting, is one of my favorite
films of all-time and I, naively, say that watching the film probably has its advantages over watching
the play version and vice versa. With film there is a more intimate feel what with close-ups and the
ability to be a complete perfectionist. With theater you are able to see the play (and what a play it is!)
in all its glory with the spontaneity that theater allows. I have never seen a stage production of
Streetcar which, alongside the work of Arthur Miller, must be the greatest American play written this
century. Therefore, I cannot really judge if the movie is just a filmed play. However, regardless of
ideas and opinions brought about by nit-picking, A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the most powerful
and frightening films I’ve ever seen and, I am convinced, is a milestone in the careers of every
person involved.
The film version was directed by the incomparable Elia Kazan who also directed the New York version of the play. Most of the cast of the New York stage version went on to star in the film except for Jessica Tandy. She was replaced by Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois, the famous character that has been used ever since it was written as a test of an actress’ talent. The film begins as Blanche searches for her sister, Stella Kowalski’s (Kim Hunter), house after having traveled from her home in Laurel, Mississippi to New Orleans. She is tired, worn. She discovers Stella in living conditions that appall her. The home is a two bedroom apartment and Stella shares it with her husband, Stanley (Marlon Brando).
Throughout the film we see the tragic deterioration of Blanche. When she arrives in New Orleans on the streetcar Desire, she is already an unstable, neurotic woman. She frantically explains to her pregnant sister that the family plantation back in Laurel, Belle Reve, was lost. Stanley’s suspicions (which he tries to justify by explaining New Orleans’ napoleonic code in which what belongs to the wife also belongs to the husband) about Blanche push her to a mental breakdown. After much investigation, Stanley discovers that Blanche was forced out of Laurel for having an affair with a student at her school and that she brought her sexual "victims" to an infamous hotel named the Tarantula Arms.
Blanche describes Stanley as common. He is a violent, merciless character who only aids in crumbling the self-esteem and sanity of Blanche. In one of the most famous scenes in history, Stella, after being in a violent fight with Stanley, lustfully returns to him against the advice of Blanche and friends. "Hey, Stella!" Stanley screams. He is an animal with little remorse for his brutality.
When Blanche has seemingly found love with Stanley’s poker buddy Mitch (Karl Malden), Stanley seems determined to keep the two apart, divulging horrific information to Mitch incriminating Blanche and her murky past. The romance is tested to the breaking point and so is Blanche who, by the endless and brutal manipulation of Stanley, is becoming more and more disillusioned and sick everyday.
We also learn about a mysterious deceased husband of Blanche whom she claims she killed with her disapproval of him. The play alludes to the fact that Blanche’s husband was gay (called a "degenerate" in the play) and that she was a nymphomaniac, but the movie only skims the surface of such references. This is because of the constraints built by the Legion of Decency who censored Streetcar before its release. Despite the meddling of this awful organization, Streetcar is chilling and potent. Elia Kazan intelligently interprets Tennessee Williams’ screenplay and works to bring out the best in all those involved with the movie even with the barriers the Legion thrust upon Hollywood films in the ‘50s.
Vivien Leigh’s portrayal of the legendary Blanche DuBois is captivating and stunning and has become one of the great female motion picture performances of all time. Likewise, Marlon Brando’s fierce performance as Stanley Kowalski has become one of the most admired pieces of film acting ever. Kim Hunter and Karl Malden’s performances have not, despite much praise, gotten the overwhelming attention Leigh and Brando have gotten. I think Hunter’s performance as the lust-ridden Stella Kowalski is one of the best supporting performances I have ever seen and Karl Malden is, as always, perfection. With A Streetcar Named Desire, Hollywood entered a new realm of acting, a world of method acting that brought more to the portrayed characters, thereby improving the film.
A Streetcar Named Desire has remained undated and painfully emotional, even with the decades that have gone by and the Legion’s mutilation. It is about the disintegration of the human spirit and of humanity itself. Blanche never loses her humanity but her spirit is trampled on again and again. Stanley is one of the most monstrous creatures I’ve seen on film; he has no humanity. The story tells of lust, violence, inhumanity, and complete darkness and sadness.
"I don’t want realism, I want magic," Blanche cries after a violent encounter with Mitch. This scream basically sums up what everyone seems to be looking for: magic. Reality is not always pretty. Regardless of whether the play or movie version is better, A Streetcar Named Desire has become one of the most compelling stories of cinema. I watched Blanche DuBois for the sixth time last night as she rapidly dissolved in a world of her own pretentious magic, her shield, and I was, again, shattered.
By Andrew Chan
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