Again, this was a movie that I hadn't seen before. I had heard some of the Marlon Brando quotes before, obviously, such as "I could have been a contender" and had (wrongly) assumed at the time that these quotes were from some sort of boxing movie.
Our Session 1 reading assignments in Chapters 1 and 2 were very helpful in setting the stage for how I wanted to approach watching the movie and what to look for throughout (Petrie & Boggs, 2012).
As an aside, one thing I really enjoy about this class so far is being able to watch movies with my wife. We're typically so busy that we don't have time to sit for a few hours to watch a movie. This is something I need to incorporate into my life schedule - well beyond the end-date of this class.
Anyway, back to the movie. On the Waterfront takes place in the New York/New Jersey waterfront and focuses on the corruption that was taking place in the union leadership for the longshoremen. The union bosses controlled who got the work, what assignments they received, etc...Anyone who disagreed with the union leaders were basically locked out of working. Those that didn't agree to be deaf and dumb and decided to report corruption to law enforcement usually met some sort of untimely demise - like murder.
The main character, Terry Malloy was played by Marlon Brando. Terry was approximately 30 years old and had at one time been an up-and-coming boxer. Terry's older brother Charley was the right-hand man of the corrupt union boss, Johnny Friendly. Johnny controlled Terry and had him do errands for him, including helping get one of the dockworkers, Joey, to come to the roof of his building, where he was eventually murdered - for agreeing to testify against the union.
Right away, we see that Terry struggles with his role and really wants nothing to do with the corruption, but we also see him take advantage of having easy work on the docks through his relationship with Johnny and Charley. After Joey's murder, Terry wrestles with his conscience somewhat, but not enough to make him agree to speak out against the corruption.
He does eventually speak out once he meets (and falls for) Joey's sister, Edie. She sees good in him, even though he considers himself to be just a bum.
Another interesting character in the film is Father Barry, a Catholic priest in the neighborhood who also gets called out by Edie for not doing enough to help his parishioners deal with the corruption.
He ends up getting very engaged and bravely takes a stand and encourages others to stand with him.
Eventually he and Edie convince Terry to testify at a hearing on the corruption. This becomes easier for Terry once his brother, Charley, is murdered by Johnny and his thugs for not taking care of the problem Terry is posing for the group. After Terry testifies, it becomes clear that Johnny and the corrupt leaders of the union will soon be indicted. Despite being threatened by Johnny, Terry goes down to the docks to work, and is shut completely out of an assignment. He goes to the union office and demands to speak to Johnny. They have words and eventually begin to fight. Terry is left nearly unconscious. The other dockworkers had all left their assignments and gathered around the area to witness Johnny and his thugs beat up Terry. When the owner of a ship comes down to find out why his ship isn't getting loaded, Johnny tries to get the dockworkers to begin working. They refuse - until Terry leads them back to the pier and Johnny is left powerless.
I really liked this movie. There were a couple areas of focus that I thought were very apparent.
One was on the character of Terry and his development from a bum who didn't want to rock the boat to a leader. I also enjoyed following the character of Father Barry and his involvement with getting his parishioners to speak out...something he himself wasn't doing until Edie sort of convicted him.
I also thought the picture focused on a social problem of the time - union corruption - and was an encouragement for those who wanted to stop it. It is through this focus, I think, that the film becomes timeless. Regardless of the era, there is always some sort of conflict between good and evil, right and wrong. It is through films such as "On the Waterfront" that society is called to action to take a stand against these wrongs.
One last thought. Was anyone else confused by the part where there was an (apparently) important person watching the hearings on television who told his butler that if Johnny Friendly called, to tell him he wasn't there...? Seemed like that scene didn't fit and assume that it was meant to just be some anonymous important person who realized they needed to distance themselves from the corruption.
References:
Petrie, D., & Boggs, J. (2012). The art of watching films. (8th ed. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
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