Thoughts on A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire is directed with faithful theatricality that fascinatingly counters the realism that it grounds within its characters and setting. Kazan does a good job of placing us within a space that reflects the interior states of its characters and the issues that are brought about from them. The Kowalski apartment is a place of internal and external turmoil and palpable tension—and division—between men and women.
The film somewhat expresses this through its drab visual atmosphere, but much of that is derived straight from Williams’ play. The film is almost entirely brought to life by its two lead actors: Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. Leigh seamlessly captures Blanche’s mental instability and suppressed dissatisfaction, while Brando counters it with the aggressive, animalistic masculine presence that defined Kowalski in Williams’ original stage stage play. The rawness of their performances grants Desire its thematic complexity. That is not to discredit the film’s production quality or filmmaking; it is, by nature, a theatrical production, whether on screen or stage.
Yet none of its themes would contain the same weight or poignancy without their intense commitment to their roles. The film ultimately is about the often cruel animalism that men openly exhibit to validate their supposedly superior roles in society and how that attracts or repulses certain women depending on the perceived class-level by which they were raised. Men and women are different beasts, but both are unmistakably human, and that is where the tragedy of Blanche’s character lies. She is so hung up on her place in the world, as a woman coming from a certain family, that eventually, all room for healthy introspection is lost, leaving her almost solely dependent upon the kindness of strangers.
The film somewhat expresses this through its drab visual atmosphere, but much of that is derived straight from Williams’ play. The film is almost entirely brought to life by its two lead actors: Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. Leigh seamlessly captures Blanche’s mental instability and suppressed dissatisfaction, while Brando counters it with the aggressive, animalistic masculine presence that defined Kowalski in Williams’ original stage stage play. The rawness of their performances grants Desire its thematic complexity. That is not to discredit the film’s production quality or filmmaking; it is, by nature, a theatrical production, whether on screen or stage.
Yet none of its themes would contain the same weight or poignancy without their intense commitment to their roles. The film ultimately is about the often cruel animalism that men openly exhibit to validate their supposedly superior roles in society and how that attracts or repulses certain women depending on the perceived class-level by which they were raised. Men and women are different beasts, but both are unmistakably human, and that is where the tragedy of Blanche’s character lies. She is so hung up on her place in the world, as a woman coming from a certain family, that eventually, all room for healthy introspection is lost, leaving her almost solely dependent upon the kindness of strangers.