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A Streetcar Named Desire review

Posted : 2 years ago on 21 March 2022 06:13

What can I say? A Streetcar Named Desire is a superb film, elevated especially by superb writing and performances. The film does look beautiful, the photography is very skillful especially. Alex North's music is nice and authentic, while the story is always gripping and the direction very good. As I have said already, the script and the acting drive A Streetcar Named Desire. Like with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the homosexual references are cut/not as prevalent, but I still cannot deny that the script was superb, dark, witty and tense. The acting is excellent too. Karl Malden is indeed great, but Marlon Brando gives one of his finest performances ever as the brutal Stanley, while Vivian Leigh also excels in a difficult role as Blanche and the pair while together sizzle with sexual tension. All in all, brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox


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One of my favourite classics!

Posted : 14 years, 3 months ago on 9 December 2009 01:52

A Streetcar Named Desire is a classic that I could watch repeatedly and not get bored. I knew I was going to like this film but I had no idea that I was going to like it as much as I really did. I loved it so much that it made me realise that it is a classic that I should have watched before when I first got into classic films. A Streetcar Named Desire is a story about brutality, aggression, betrayal and also manipulation. It is a very classic masterpiece with a very different mixture of personalities. I think the main thing I truly loved about A Streetcar Named Desire is that it is a story that wants answers in the end and it is a rather questionable story of how much longer Stanley can stand to have Blanche living with him and his wife Stella. It is rather tense as far as sex is concerned especially between Blanche and Stanley. It is probably the tensest film that I have seen that I have seen from an ensemble cast with amazing performances. It was a rather dramatic story to watch as well because of the circumstances that the characters come across.


Vivien Leigh's performance as Blanche DuBois was really awesome with a very heartfelt, tense and even quite disturbing performance. Vivien was an actress who would always give amazing performances in all sorts of different ways. Her performances in A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind were performances about characters who always like to appear as proper "ladies" who speak and appear very posh with bright clothes. Blanche is a woman who goes to New Orleans to move in with her sister Stella but she ends up in a bit of a rivalry with Stanley Kowalski who is her brother-in-law. She becomes very mixed-up while she lives with them and especially when she is sort of bullied by Stanley with his brutal attitude towards you. A Streetcar Named Desire was Marlon Brando's first film and is his best performance as well in my opinion. I have quite a lot of reasons for this: Marlon was in his young days a real heart throb and an ultimate sex symbol. I personally think that Marlon Brando's performance is the best acting debut of all time. Marlon didn't only show what sort of person Stanley is but he also showed what Stanley truly is capable of. Marlon was a big muscley man in his 20s and 30s which is amazing and pretty much perfect for his performance as Stanley Kowalski and is one of the best ways to describe Stanley's character. Kim Hunter's performance as Stella Kowalski was awesome as well with a very supporting, friendly and even quite argumentative performance. She understands her sister Blanche for being the way she wants to be. Stella is a Southern belle who leaves her home town of Laurel, Mississippi to find work after her family falls on hard times. There she meets her soon-to-be husband, Stanley Kowalski, who has just returned from World War II, complete with decorations. Her character is portrayed as independent of mind, young, and fair, everything that Blanche once was and no longer is. I really loved Karl Malden as Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell because he certainly showed his love for Blanche but unfortunately they couldn't completely work out because of Blanche's slightly disturbed attitude. This film has an absolutely fantastic cast with a very rare Oscar nominated cast. Three out of the four won the Oscars.


The directing from Elia Kazan was absolutely fantastic. The director wanted us all to know what becomes of the relationship between Stanley and Blanche because he is rather brutal towards her. Because of the deep tension within the house, the director sort of pushes us into a circle to watch what would happen to each of the three characters that lived in the house. That is where they made me feel the deep reality of the characters. Kazan directed this one better than On The Waterfront even though his directing in that was still awesome.


This is my second favourite Marlon Brando film after The Godfather. I do still love his performances in The Godfather and On The Waterfront as well. Elia Kazan's work is really amazing but I preferred A Streetcar Named Desire to On The Waterfront. A Streetcar Named Desire is my favourite film of the 1950s let along of 1951. I am torn what performance is better of Vivien Leigh between A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind as my favourite leading actress performance of all time is. A Streetcar Named Desire is certainly one of my all-time favourite films as well as one of my favourite classic films as well and it totally deserves it. Masterpiece with one of the best ensemble casts of all time.


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A benchmark in screen performances!

Posted : 15 years, 10 months ago on 27 May 2008 01:17

"You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky, that's all... To hold a front position in this rat-race, you've got to believe you are lucky."


A Streetcar Named Desire is a compelling, mesmerising drama that exhibits a benchmark in revolutionary screen performances. This formidable tour de force hasn't dated one iota: even after several decades the film's prominent themes and potent nature are still convincingly evident. This is an example of filmmaking from Hollywood's golden age. The magic of these classics will never be recaptured by any modern filmmakers.

Based on a successful play by Tennessee Williams, we follow Blanche DuBois (Leigh) as she arrives in New Orleans suffering from a condition of psychological apprehension attributed to a number of financial difficulties. Blanche comes to New Orleans to visit her sister Stella (Hunter) who had recently gotten married to the authoritative Stanley Kowalski (Brando). The lives of Stella and Stanley are overturned by the arrival of Blanche: a sexual disturbed, delicate and neurotic woman on a frantic prowl for someplace in the world to call her own. Blanche is in a world of illusion as she is immediately drawn into a battle of wills with her intimidating brother-in-law who lacks in refinement. With the brutal, terrestrial Stanley in her life, Blanche's world begins to crumble as she slowly finds her circumstances unbearable.

This is the essential performance from Marlon Brando: a truly electrifying piece of acting that earned him an Oscar nomination (he ultimately lost to Humphrey Bogart). Stanley Kowalski is an animalistic individual brilliantly captured in two different styles by actor Brando. Many of his lines are absolutely unforgettable. (The most notable line of Brando's is his much imitated, much parodied line "Hey, Stellaaaaaaa!")

Brando is not the only stand out in the cast: we also have an outstanding performance from Vivien Leigh in the title role. Leigh earned herself an Oscar with this astonishingly realistic, haunting, stimulating and extraordinary performance. Leigh's portrayal is one of the finest screen performances in cinematic history. She never strikes a false note and always keeps the audience enthralled throughout the film's duration. As questions regarding her sanity arise, Leigh always remains 100% focused. An Oscar was also awarded to Kim Hunter whose performance is incredibly unforgettable.

I can't stress this enough: the central three protagonists are flawless in every respect. This high level of determination is a rarity in modern cinema. The film was also awarded with an Oscar for actor Karl Malden in addition to an Oscar for the film's elegant art direction and set decoration. There were several other nominations, including Best Picture, Best Music and Best Director.

A Streetcar Named Desire features an undeniably stunning, spellbinding score. This jazzy music was highly influential at the time of release. Even now the music is disturbing and haunting. This music sets the mood amazingly, and is complimented with the stylish directing and incredible black & white photography.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a classic production that welcomed a new era of filmmaking. This will always be one for the history books: a timeless movie that exhibits magnificent performances and persuasive themes. Marred only marginally by its slow pacing during the middle section.

When the film was initially released the censorship board removed a few minutes of the film that underscored the sexual tension between the central characters. These few minutes were eventually restored back into the movie.



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