A southern belle meets the black knight

"A Streetcar Named Desire" likely proved to be a revelation to audiences in 1951, with its bold and frank adult themes and downbeat dénouement. CineVerse examined this classic adaptation of the play last night, and came away with these conclusions:

HOW WOULD THIS FILM HAVE BEEN CONTROVERSIAL IN 1951?

• There is a strong sexual undercurrent throughout the play that would’ve been difficult to get past the sensors.

• There is an implied rape of Blanche by Stanley, which viewers would have found disturbing.

• There are hints of female lust and nymphomania; Stella seems to have a sexual longing for her husband, while there is sexual tension between Blanche and Stanley and repressed sexual desires within Blanche.

• Stella is a battered woman who endures physical and verbal abuse from her husband.

• It is suggested that Blanche’s husband was homosexual, which, combined with Blanche’s taunting of him perhaps contributed to his suicide.

• Additionally, the picture offers a bleak and tragic ending that could have limited its commercial appeal: Blanche has been raped and taken away to a mental institution, and Stella will presumably take Stanley back.

WHAT ARE SOME IMPORTANT THEMES EXPLORED IN THIS MOVIE?

• Illusion versus reality – consider how Blanche wrote misleading letters, uses a purple shade over the light, recalls her years in Belle Reve, and pines for a bygone era of Southern manners and gentility.

• Old values versus new values – much of this play is concerned with the clash between the Old South and the New South and the end of Southern chivalry, hospitality and nobility. Blanche is futilely trying to maintain these romanticized values in a world that has decidedly changed.

• The gentility she seeks is only met with brutality, indifference and ignorance, as exemplified by Stanley.

• Different kinds of desire – including sexual desire, power desire, and respect desire.

• A search for identity.

• The power of sexuality to either destroy or redeem.

WHAT DO THE THREE MAIN CHARACTERS – BLANCHE, STELLA AND STANLEY – REPRESENT INDIVIDUALLY AND TO EACH OTHER?

• Blanche symbolizes the old South; she’s a pretender who is living in denial – a pseudo-southern belle yearning for a time that has passed.

• Stanley represents the new South, with new values exemplified in capitalist, industrial America; he embodies a primal force and serves as an antithesis to the classic white knight who rescues damsels in distress.

• Stella, meanwhile, exudes fertility – she stands for a new Southern attitude (consider that she has lost her Southern drawl) where women sadly tolerate the brutality of men.

HOW DOES BLANCHE POSE A THREAT TO STANLEY?

• They are two opposing forces.

• Blanche is trying to “save Stella from the brutes” and may end up turning Stella away from Stanley.

• Blanche is attempting to revitalize a bygone Southern culture that stands in direct contrast to Stanley’s new culture.

• As several critics and film scholars have suggested, the fight between Blanche and Stanley over Stella is a Darwinian struggle for survival of each species – Stanley wins (as evidenced by the birth of his son, which suggests that his species will continue), while Stella has lost (she does not convince her sister to leave the brute and she is extricated from the environment completely, insinuating extinction).

• Ultimately, Stella will have to choose between the flesh (Stanley) and the spirit (Blanche). She chooses the former.

WHY WAS CASTING SO IMPORTANT TO THIS FILM, AND YOU FEEL IT WAS WELL CAST?

• Vivien Leigh is arguably the perfect choice for this role because we identify her with Scarlett and the old South from her performance in Gone With the Wind. Also, she was starting to exhibit signs of her developing bipolar disorder, which could have informed the part and the way she played it.

• Marlon Brando serves as a veritable force of nature who uses a physically imposing presence and emotive body language, yet handsome and alluring appearance, to make Stanley a completely believable and complex character. Many historians contend that his performance in this film represented a sea change in film acting, one in which future actors would pay closer attention to nuance, detail, and method acting.

o On this topic, Roger Ebert wrote: “Before this role, there was usually a certain restraint in American movie performances. Actors would portray violent emotions, but you could always sense to some degree a certain modesty that prevented them from displaying their feelings in raw nakedness. Brando held nothing back, and within a few years his was the style that dominated Hollywood movie acting. This movie led directly to work by Brando’s heirs such as Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Jack Nicholson, and Sean Penn.”

• Kim Hunter is also well placed in this role, considering that she appears common and plain, yet emanates an earthy sensuality.

HOW DO THE FILM’S CINEMATOGRAPHY, SET DESIGN AND MUSIC HELP SET THE TONE AND MOOD FOR THE STORY?

• The filmmakers create a claustrophobic feel with tight quarters and cramped interiors, which tightens the conflict between the characters.

• We see and feel the sweat, heat and grime – there’s no romanticizing of New Orleans or its characters here; this is a seething sauna of sexuality and conflict.

• The film is also imbued with short sets of music that reflect each character’s psychological dynamics; it employs jazz elements in a New Orleans style to conjure up a brooding sexual atmosphere.

OTHER FILMS BY ELIA KAZAN

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

• Gentlemen’s Agreement

• East of Eden

• Baby Doll

• A Face in the Crowd

• On the Waterfront

• Splendor in the Grass

• Viva Zapata