On the Waterfront (1954)'s comments

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Lumen

The film felt very naive to me, it was all kind of cute, the acting, the story, the moral, the humor... I don't think it was engaging or sharp. Good shots though.

8 years 1 month ago

Marlon Brando's subtle excellence in acting is what makes this film special. His character is a complex mix of naive innocence and a brute dog-eat-dog life philosophy. Somewhere inside him is a sense of right and wrong, but he doesn't know what to do with it.
I personally loved Father Barry (Karl Malden), and the change he goes from isolationist priest to tough crusader getting down and dirty. I loved the scene where Terry (Marlon Brando) tells him to go to hell. You don't tell a priest that!

12 years 6 months ago

Thief

Great film indeed. The taxi scene was good, but I preferred the scene with the father at the docks

"Boys, this is my church! And if you don't think Christ is down here on the waterfront, you've got another guess coming!"

Great scene all around.

11 years 8 months ago

jacktrewin

the scene between brando and eve marie saint by the playground is some of the best acting ever

12 years 9 months ago

Siskoid

On the surface, On the Waterfront is a crime drama about a corrupt longshoreman union, but it's really a character piece, at the center of which is Marlon Brando's washed-up prize fighter, at the periphery of the criminal gang, but conflicted after he's made to finger a man who gets killed. Brando is excellent, thoughtful in the skin of a character who isn't all that smart. Helping or hurting him, depending on your point of view, is Eva Marie Saint, the girl he loves, and Karl Malden as the priest who becomes the moral center of the story. The villains are less textured, but these three give fine performances. Director Elia Kazan is no slouch either - I want to single out the moment when Brando tells Saint what he did as a highlight, diagetic sound used as psychological background. Will this turn out to be a rousing victory for the common man, or a naturalistic tragedy? It could go both ways, and therein lies the film's tension.

5 years 8 months ago

Agrimorfee

Love when he picks up Eva Marie Saint's glove while they are walking, and he absentimindedly puts it on!

7 years 1 month ago

frankqb

Marlon Brando is very good in subtle ways in this film. An interesting portrait of mob rule on the shores of New Jersey.

14 years ago

corchap

Its been well established that this is indeed great filmmaking.
I'm a big fan of the dialogue between Brando and Saint. Raw and powerful.
I feel like I need to watch this again and again.

8 years 11 months ago

CSSCHNEIDER

It's just good. It's about as good as a film can be. Great script, great performances, great direction, photography, etc. There is nothing bad about the film, no fault to be found. The only thing is the Taxi scene has been parodied by so many that it definitely loses something, but that's not the film's fault.

10 years 1 month ago