Review of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) by Anastasia B — 09 Dec 2009
Classical praise put aside, this is a film of tremendous value and personality. Elia Kazan's talent is 100% evident here (too bad he wasn't as inventive during his McCarthian examination). I feel that I should point out the things we usually leave out of our first reading: the portrayal of the mentally unstable Blanche, and how Vivian Leigh lived up to the expectations of the role walking on a very thin red line, on one hand, and the fetishizing of Marlon Brando's body and masculinity in general as a derivative, on the other.
From a feminist point of view, the film is too close to supressing the issue of rape and the celebration of the rule of the Man over the Woman ("Every man is a King" in Stanley's words), and also the rule of the sane as contrary to the insane (respectively attributed to the masculine and the feminine here).
This clasp of the absolute opposites and the way the conflict plays out realistically to the very end is at the heart of the film and it's also what makes it forever memorable.
This review of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) was written by Anastasia B on 09 Dec 2009.
A Streetcar Named Desire has generally received very positive reviews.
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