On the Waterfront (1954)

A longshoreman belongs to the union mafia that controls New York harbors. His brother is a high-ranking official in that organization. He falls in love with the sister of a man who was murdered by the mob because he threatened to testify against it.

Second viewing. Technically, it's a very involving film, and the fine performances help too. Morally, there is no arguing with the correctness of the view espoused, insofar as a film can be said to espouse a moral view at all. However, there are problems with the film as I see it. First, let's get the realism issue out of the way. Although the film depicts situations which, broadly speaking, are within the sphere of possible ones which a man, and especially a working man, may encounter, they are perhaps not probable to occur with the same level of brutality as the film depicts, and especially not in a big city like New York. In what concerns dramatic consistency strictly, I have some objections also; two of these objections, perhaps the main ones, were already raised as questions in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Internet Movie Database, and were answered there, in an unsatisfactory way. The two questions are: "Why do Terry's friends give him the cold shoulder after he testifies if they hate the mob as much as he does?" The answer they give is "For fear" and it is an unconvincing explanation; fear would determine restraining in the manifestation of support for Terry, but it would not go as far as making him an outcast. The other question is "Why does Tommy kill all the pigeons (and becomes hostile to Terry) after Terry testifies?" Again, it is a most unconvincing answer they give: Tommy would have been driven by a misled loyalty to the mafia boss, and would have seen Terry as a snitch. Well, no child is as naive or misinformed as that, or can revoke his early feelings as easily. Finally, a note about the ending, which is acknowledged to be Kazan's own contribution in disregard of Schulberg's original script's ending; although it is staged in an inspired way, and Brando adds power to it with his whole body's movements, the sheer absurdity of it makes it plain that it is just that: staging, for the sake of melodramatic spectacle.

Rating: 57 (up from 50)