Posts tagged “elia kazan”

On the Waterfront

Last night we watched On the Waterfront. I remember seeing this more than 20 years ago, and not really getting it. Seeing it again was fantastic. It’s a sad (yet heartwarming) movie about the poor, hardworking longshoremen who are taken advantage of by the mob. It has a realist feel for the first 3/4 of the film. Almost like a documentary via the pacing, the amazing cinematography and shots populated by oodles of hangdog faces. I was reminded of Dorothea Lange’s photos of depression-era migrant farm workers.

I was also struck at how many other stories owe a debt to On The Waterfront: West Side Story, Rumblefish, Brotherhood, The Sopranos, The Wire, and NYPD Blue. I thought of each of them at one point as we watched.

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