Film Techniques

 Directing is invisible (avoids flashy camera work, extreme angles, intense close-ups and overt camera movements).

 Often actors appear in two-shot (two people at midrange) or in wider shots to show the arrangements of characters.

 Positioning of characters shows power dynamics.

 There is suggestive framing – Father Barry hoisted out of the hold with Dugan’s body.

Malloy’s confession to Edie:

 Viewer doesn’t hear all of the crucial conversation.

 Ship’s whistle is overpowering.

 It suggests depth of feeling, frenzy and confused emotions  Feelings are more important than the words  Scenes like this are rare in the movie world.

Film techniques

 Use a lot of physical touch – emphasises the crowded environment and affirms intimacy of all the relationships.

 Images of the waterfront – all actions – Terry’s confession does not occur in church – outside  Mise-en-scene – the physical environment in which the film takes place is not a set.

 Kazan achieves authenticity and grit

Film Techniques

 The goons are not actors – they are actual former heavy weight boxers  Longshoremen – many are actual workers  The background sounds on the docks – add to realistic environment  ALL ADD TO HEIGHTEN THE REALITY AND DEPTH OF CHARACTERS’ STRUGGLES AND EMOTIONS

Film Techniques

 Filmed during New York’s coldest winters  The steamy hot air seeping up through the sewers or steam being released on the docks creates a misty visual atmosphere – suggests moral ambiguity of every character.

 There was only one scene not shot on location – taxi scene  Not much makeup or elaborate costuming used.

 The changes in costuming – key indicators of shifting emotion or suggested eroticism.

Acting

 Brando – Inarticulate, his movements reveal his struggle – chews gum, shrugs, lags behind, pulls his collar up and stuffs his hands in his pockets – Nervous, evasive gestures.

 Henchmen – stand strong in twos and threes. Solid hats and long overcoats.

 Henchmen make eye contact – Malloy frequently looks away.

 Improvisation – ‘white glove’ scene  Taxi scene – choice of unconventional reactions

Black and White

 Deliberate  Placed itself in movie world as different from technicolour of the time.

 Realistic, documentary style  Location  Script relies on real life conversations with longshoremen  Gives film social realism  Not a film about escapism – complements dark issues. Daytime is gritty and cruel.

Music

 Leonard Bernstein’s score – music of opening scene mirrors the harsh reality of the New York waterfront in winter and the lives of those who reside in the community.

Lighting

 Documentary style  Frontal lighting – just projected at performers – the effect is flat, cold, not sympathetic  Darkness represents evil  Grey shadows – overpowering, ominous  Big ships overshadow small ships  Edie – light  Ending – not clear

Motifs

 Definition: Recurring structures, contrasts or Literacy

devices than can help to develop and inform the texts major themes.

 The rooftop as a retreat from the world.

 Crucifixion dialogue / images  “D ‘n D” (work machines without identities)  Coats

Motif - Coats

 Long coats set aside with short coats  Crime investigators and long coats (ruthless – have a job to do – don’t care about individuals) - air of mystery, can’t be trusted, similar to mob, prepared to sacrifice lives to get results  Father Barry’s coat has to be dirtied before he is trusted  Joey’s jacket is offered as a precious gift - shared hardship- shared friendship - mantle of truth holder is passed on with it – dons the skin of a martyr.

 Intimate to wear someone else’s jacket  Terry’s jacket – checkerboard pattern – childlike – he is able to stand out  Change in costume – key indicators of shifting emotion or suggested eroticism.

 Longshoremen’s clothes – worn out – vulnerable  Edie’s coat – feminine – has it on for protection in many scenes – shows innocence and discomfort at times  Mob coats – comfortable, don’t have to do physical work, shows wealth, mystery, superiority

Symbols

 Definition: Objects, characters, figures or colours used

to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

 Hudson River – (a border, edge they will never cross). Manhattan – Empire State Building – unattainable  Pigeons – cooped up in cages – fragile. Natural impulse is to fly but are trained not to. (perfectly symbolise Terry Malloy – tough but has an affinity with birds.

 Hawks – The corrupt union – the mob

Symbols

 Hooks – Hang over shoulders menacingly. Represent the forces that literally hang over them (Friendly’s goons).

 Gloves – (appear twice) Indicate a shift in the dynamics of the scene – exposing a new layer of a character’s anxiety, sexuality, vulnerability.

1. Park scene 2. Charley in the taxi scene (suggest he is bound to face something uncomfortable (one naked hand suggests vulnerability)



Symbols

Cyclone fences / Spikes – caged . Terry has allowed Friendly and Charley to take over his life – like he is half alive. Does not have free will  When Terry decides to testify, we see blue skies – he has freedom and is able to fly  Fence at church isolate mob from religion  Edie on one side representing purity  Father Barry on the hill – self-righteous – realises he may have done something wrong.

 Daytime scenes – smoke and mist used to create doubt. Suggest claustrophobic world they live in compared to the crispness of the night.

 Joey falls through lines of clothing – very public  Non descript street appears as a narrow tunnel with no escape for Terry and Edie – classic film noir – to create a sense of the world closing in .

Nature

 Usually uncontrollable –uncivilised  Wedding scene – dancing through vines and ferns – like jungle  People animalistic – Terry rescues her  Gorilla-like gangsters appear  city full of hawks  ‘do it to him before he does it to you’  Johnny Friendly becomes animalistic in the courtroom  Kazan believes in social control – not advocating violence or resistance to control issues – technique is to divide and conquer. Violence is only possible as a last resort

Murder Scenes

 Low and gloomy places  Joey  Dugan  Charley  Terry – tried to kill him low down, near the water’s edge.

 Final Scene – Open to the skies

Opening Scene

 Sad looking shed amongst the enormous ships and wharves. – makes us think how important these people really are.

 Often Terry is seen as separate from the gang – see as he departs from the shed in the opening scene.

Christian Undertones

 Father Barry – John the Baptist figure  Terry – Christ figure  Charley and Terry – Cain and Abel  Terry in the church  Terry’s cut hand – stigmata –sacrificed like Jesus  Opening scene – small boat with crucifix – religion is on the side of the workers – in contrast to the power of the ship owners

Terry Molloy

 Shunned by dock workers  Hangs out with kids  Lifestyle is modest but at the same time he is cushioned by the mob.

 Without Edie’s influence, he most likely would have remained the same.

 She stays to solve her brother’s murder and is attracted to someone who is implicated in the death.

The Place of Women in this World

 No place  The woman talking to the policeman is shut out – Pop Doyle considers her actions a betrayal.

 There is a woman in Friendly’s bar but it is like she doesn’t exist – faceless  Mr Big’s wife is oblivious to what’s happening  Classic romantic genre – good woman makes a better man – on the path to redemption  By her connection with Terry, Edie becomes weaker and weaker  When Terry breaks into her apartment – her independence is sucked out of her  Central to civilisation and culture

Father Barry

 Edie’s words to Father Barry have struck home  There is a sense that he wants to be a saint – he is bossy and authoritative.

 It’s as much about his status as an inspirational leader as he is interested in the plight of the longshoremen  Shots of Father Barry – reinforce his view of the world  High angle shot – Dugan’s death – physically vulnerable but morally powerful  Curious sadism is at play in the final scene – ‘Johnny Friendly’s paying odds that you won’t get up.’

The Ending

 Far from triumphant  Ship owner – power has not shifted to longshoremen  Terry – blur – impossible to see the way forward – far from clear  Edie and Father Barry smile

Key Scenes

 Edie goes to the chicken coop  The Wedding  The discovery of Charley and Terry’s arrival in the bar.