On the Waterfront Reflection

This is not my final draft I am turning in. It would be, but I e-mailed it to myself so I could work from a different computer. I printed out my final copy, but it is somewhere in a dumb temporary internet file folder. This one is pretty much my rough draft.

On the Waterfront Film Reflection
On the Waterfront was an outstanding film about the corrupt working conditions on the harbors of Hobokken, New Jersey, and it held my interest right from the opening scene until the credits had finished rolling. On the Waterfront starts with a bang, as Joey Doyle gets pushed off of a roof, where he falls to his death. Beginning the film with a murder was brilliant. In addition to the fact that the opening scene contained a thought-provoking murder, the murder in itself was quite unconventional. How many times have you watched a murder in a movie and seen it go down by one guy pushing the other off of a roof? From the second Joey Doyle was pushed off of that roof, I was hooked. The protagonist Terry Malloy, an ex-fighter who now works on the harbor, does not reveal that he knew and collaborated in Joey’s murder until late in the film. With the help of Father Barry and Joey’s sister Edie, Terry decides to try and expose the mob controlling oppressing the workers and their union, but it may be too late. The film climaxes with Terry emerging victorious from a bloody fistfight between him and the mob boss Johnny Friendly and leading the workers to the President of the shipping company. Terry ends up testifying against Friendly’s mob, and sends him and every mob member to prison. Throughout the film, Marlon Brando performs the part of Terry spectacularly, and clearly communicates to both the harbor workers in the film and the viewers in the audience how one person can make all of the difference.
Each and every film contains literary aspects such as plot, characters, setting, themes, point-of-view and symbols. On the Waterfront is told in third person point-of-view, and takes place in Hoboken, New Jersey, around the year 1948. The film is centered around the protagonist Terry Malloy, who is pressured by Father Barry and Joey’s surviving sister Edie Doyle to expose Johnny Friendly’s mob and their corrupt ways of running of the harboring business’ union, as well as the planned murder of Joey Doyle. Early on in the film, the viewer learns that Terry was never educated. He used to be an ex-boxer, but now has a low position in Friendly’s mob. Constantly throughout the movie, he is pressured by people to tell the Waterfront Crime Commission what he knows about Joey Doyle’s murder, and at it takes a while for him to consent. If Terry reveals damaging information about the mob in any less than a courtroom, he knows that he will probably be assassinated. He tells is questioners, “I don’t know anything. I’m no canary.” His canary relates to the metaphorical theme throughout the movie of birds representing people. Characters in On the Waterfront are categorized into three types of birds: Hawks, pigeons, and canaries. Johnny Friendly’s mob is represented as hawks, and all of the workers who pretend to not care about the mob’s corrupt ways are pigeons, being deaf and dumb. Joey Doyle was a canary that sang about the mob’s ways, then was killed by the mob. The hawks prey on the canaries, but leave the pigeons alone, because they are deaf and dumb. There is a scene where Terry is tending to his pigeons on a roof, and a hawk approaches. The hawk lingers for a bit, but then leaves after less than a minute. As he is questioned, Terry fears that if he is a canary who rats out Johnny Friendly, he will get in a sense, “eaten.” Throughout the film, Terry is pressured by Edie and Father Barry to speak about his inside view of the mob, and in the end, he does testify against Johnny Friendly. In addition to Terry, Father Barry decides at one point to speak in front of all of the shipyard workers about standing up to the mob. His wise words are not taken seriously, and he is pelted with fruit. Many times, the right choice is not the easiest choice.
Actors, costumes, set design, and lighting are all dramatic aspects, which are aspects that can be shared with a play. In On the Waterfront, the costumes and props were well-chosen, and the acting was spectacular. Three actors stood out spectacularly: Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Marlon Brando. The three of them played Johnny Friendly, Father Barry, and Terry Malloy, respectively. Cobb’s acting as Johnny Friendly was spectacular. He was portrayed as a plump, cigar-smoking mob leader, who could have someone killed just by the snap of his fingers. In my mind that’s how mob leaders are. People obey them for fear of death; the mob leader himself is well fed due to his obscene wealth, and he (or she) seems to always be smoking or craving a cigar. Cobb fit my description of a mob leader perfectly, from his walk, his speech, and those hard-eyed looks that made me remember who the boss on the docks was. Karl Malden performance was also spectacular, but not because he fit my stereotypical description of a church father. I picture fathers as quiet, well-dressed men who are shy outside of church, and people who don’t drink alcohol. Out of the above four characteristics, Father Barry is well-dressed. He is a loud, assertive man, who does in fact drink a beer once in a while. At one point in the film, Terry is in a bar holding a gun, waiting for Johnny Friendly to walk in. Father Barry convinces Terry to throw the gun down, and then says, “Bartender, get me a drink. And one for Terry, also.” In spite of that scene, Father Barry was much more than a raucous man who drank. After Kayo Dugan’s murder, his speech to the shipyard workers is truly inspiring. As he finishes his speech, he is lifted out of the lower storage floor to ground level on a pulley. It is a powerful moment when he is being lifted, and I compared it in my mind to Christ rising to heaven. In addition to Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden’s performances, Marlon Brando’s acting as Terry Malloy went above and beyond my expectations. Terry is just an ex-fighter who currently works in the shipyard, so I didn’t have much of a mental picture of him going into the film. He looked like an ex-fighter though. He didn’t look like one of those hulk-type body-builder boxers, which was good, but he looked as though he could knock someone out in just a few seconds. Brando’s acting was terrific. There is a scene where Terry Malloy’s brother Charlie, who was sent by the mob to “persuade” him to stay quiet, is riding with him in a taxi. Terry is reminiscing on his boxing career, and how Charley and the mob forced him to lose a match that ended his career, just because the mob had money on the other fighter, “You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody [...].” That quote has become definitive to the film, and is still famous today. In addition to the quality acting in On the Waterfront, the costumes and props of the characters play an important role in the film. Cigarettes and cigars enhance the meaning of the play. The fact that many of the shipyard workers smoke clues in the viewer to the fact that everyone is going through some tough times. Even the Father asks for a cigarette as he talks to the shipyard workers. In addition to that, Edie’s bright blond hair stands out in a crowd of men who all are wearing dull colors. The brightness in her hair almost brings a sense of innocence anywhere she goes. The first-rate acting of Cobb, Malden, and Brando, as well as Edie’s bright hair and the abundance of cigarettes are three influential dramatic aspects having to do with the greatness of the film.
The angle of shots, camera movement, and editing of a film are all cinematic aspects, which are elements that only films can possess. On the Waterfront opened with a low angle, with Terry looking up to talk to Joey Doyle about a pigeon that he lost. The camera then looks up at Joey standing three stories up on a roof just in time to see two men walk up behind him and roughly shove him off. It happens in literally two seconds. There is a lull in the conversation between Terry and Joey, the view shifts upwards, Joey is pushed, and hits the ground below with a loud crash. If I hadn’t been paying attention to the film before, I would be now! In addition to the low-angle shot at the beginning, it was effective to shoot scenes of the mob diagonally. There was a time when Johnny Friendly was walking his mob down one of the docks, as the shipyard workers watched. The diagonal shot of the mob walking gives the viewer a look at the mob through one of the worker’s eyes. It wasn’t just moving shots of the mob that were shot diagonally either. Whenever the mob congregated in a back room somewhere, the scene was shot from a corner of that room, almost like they were being filmed from a security camera. In addition to that shot angles, the camera movement and editing also added a lot. Near the end of the movie, Terry picks a fight with Johnny Friendly after Friendly has Terry’s brother hanged. Terry is about to take him out, but Johnny Friendly gets the rest of the mob to help him fight, and Terry is knocked out in a bloody fashion. Father Barry and Edie rush over to him, and shake him, trying to get him to stand up, so he can walk to the President of the shipyard company. After they shake Terry, the camera switches to his view, and the viewer sees Father Barry and Edie’s face blurring and coming back into focus, from a close-up low angle shot. Terry stands up, and begins walking to the president, who is at the working building, which is probably 150 feet away. As he is walking, the view switches between a side-view of a stumbling Terry and a shaky, blurred vision of the president seeming farther away than he really is. This view through Terry’s eyes not only shows how disoriented he is, but also shows his determination to take down Johnny Friendly and his mob. It really is a great scene to end the movie. Both the opening and ending scenes of the movie were great. The strategic use of camera angles and camera movement, as well as the blurred editing of certain parts not only enhance the viewers physical vision of the film, but also help the viewer to better connect with Terry’s determination at the end of the film.
Terry Malloy dilemma in On the Waterfront is remarkably similar to that of Joe Keller’s in the play All My Sons. First of all, both Terry and Joe are faced with the issue of revealing information about a murder issue to the authorities that could potentially harm themselves. The difference between what happens when they do reveal it is that Terry is just severely injured, but Joe Keller kills himself out of the realization that he killed his own son. In addition to that, throughout both On the Waterfront and All My Sons, Terry and Joe are prompted by a female partner to go the honest way, and tell the necessary people the facts. The difference is that Terry reveals incriminating information about the mob to the Waterfront Crime Commission in a public trial, while Joe Keller reveals self-incriminating information to only his family and a few others who lived close-by. Joe Keller does not reveal that information to the judge and jury when he had a trial. Lastly, both Terry and Joe’s issue of keeping quiet about what they knew caused the death of one family member. When Terry does not agree to keep quiet about the mob, his brother Charley is hanged by the mob. When Joe does not confess about his crime in a trial, his son who is at war is so disappointed in him that he commits suicide. When looking at the big picture, both Terry Malloy and Joe Keller were faced with the issue of the importance of their life or many other’s lives, and they were both pressured by another female to reveal information that could hurt themselves or others dear to them, and they both did end up losing family members in the process of revealing the necessary information.
On the Waterfront is a truly well-done film, something that is hard to come by these days. The film is centered on the theme, “One person can make a difference, it just depends on how hard he or she tries to make that crucial change happen.” The action in the movie keeps building and building right up until that last moment when the president of the shipyard lets Terry into the doors to start working. On the Waterfront combines just the right amount of laughs and seriousness, from the time Father Barry yells for a beer, to the sorrowful moment when Terry must take his own brother off of his gallows. If you know what’s best for you, you will watch this film.