Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Streetcar named Desire - Tennessee Williams - Elia Kazan

The 1951 film, in black and white, with Brando as Stanley Kowalski, Vivien Leigh as Blanche Dubois and Kim Hunter as Stella.


Blanche Dubois is an ageing Southern Belle who’s been sacked from her job as a teacher for having an affair with a 17-year-old student, after her husband has committed suicide, and the family estates have been 'lost'.  She continues to live out her fantasies, attempting to seduce any potential suitors.
She arrives in New Orleans, where her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski live in an apartment in the French Quarter.

There’s a marked contrast between Blanche’s pseudo-refinement and Kowalski’s coarseness and domination of Stella.  Stanley discovers some of the secrets of Blanche’s past, and brings this into the open, resulting in her having a nervous breakdown. In the end Stanley has her committed to a mental institution.
Stella leaves Stanley, and the final scene has him desperately calling her name.


Claustrophobic – almost all the scenes take place inside the apartment, where it’s impossible to escape from the others, or from the neighbours.  Iconic scenes  - gambling and drinking, domestic rows and reconciliations, Blanche’s attempts to ‘keep up appearances’.  

A note from wikipedia about the title:
The Desire Line ran from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans. The route ran down Bourbon, through the Quarter, to Desire Street in the Bywater district, and back up to Canal. Blanche's route in the play — "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at — Elysian Fields!" — is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans colorful street names.The Desire Line ran from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans. The route ran down Bourbon, through the Quarter, to Desire Street in the Bywater district, and back up to Canal. Blanche's route in the play — "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at — Elysian Fields!" — is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans colorful street names.


One thing I hadn't realised was that the Almodóvar film All About my Mother was influenced by the dialogue of some of the supporting characters in Streetcar.

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