On the Waterfront

When I read the chapter for this week in the book, it talked about how films focus on five certain elements: plot, emotional effect or mood, character, style and texture, and ideas. It also talks about how films emphasize on one or two of the elements more than the others. In the film On the Waterfront, its main focus is the idea. The central idea , according to the book, is the struggle for human dignity. The book talks about how this means that there is conflict between two opposing sides. On the Waterfront has two opposing sides, and they are the dock workers and the corrupted union.
When I read the article "Arthur Miller’s Proletariat:The True Stories of On theWaterfront, Pietro Panto,and Vincenzo Longhi," I found two things that shocked me. The first was that the director Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg, who did the screenplay, were "accused of ‘stealing’ the conception for On the Waterfront from an unsuccessful work of Miller titled ‘The Hook: A Play for the Screen.'" I didn't understand if it was true or not, but it was still shocking to read that because I never suspected it. The other thing that shocked me was that there really was a waterfront union corruption in Brooklyn around the time the movie was filmed. I was shocked that they made a film kind of about it around the same time. Usually movies that are based on true stories aren't made until some time after the event happened.
When I watched the film I had a feeling that I was going to like it, because I enjoyed the last black and white film that I watched. I was right, and I did enjoy the movie a lot. When the movie first started, I found it very disturbing when Joey was shown falling off of the roof. I was not expecting the film to have murder in it, so it really surprised me. I also found it disturbing at the end when all the pigeons were killed by the boy. It was really sad watching Terry's face when he saw them all dead. Besides the disturbing parts, I really liked how the movie played out. I liked how Terry and Edie had a fling going, because I like movies that have romance in them. Edie was a little dramatic in some of the scenes like when Terry left the apartment to see why the mob was saying his brother "wanted" him. She really was dramatic about his safety and it was kind of cheesy. I never really put two and two together at the beginning to know that Terry was part of the mob. I was a little slow but I ended up understanding everything as the movie went on. I found the bar scene funny when Terry took Edie to drink because she had one shot and she seemed drunk already. I understand that it might have been her first time drinking, but it was funny to watch her reactions from the alcohol.
The movie review that I read, On the Waterfront (Motion Picture), was interesting because I don't think the reviewer liked the movie that much. I liked when he said, "Terry Malloy, the ex-boxer whose brains are partly scrambled, but whose pigeon-loving heart stays tenderly intact," because it is funny how Terry is portrayed as tough but has a love for pigeons and is up on the roof taking care of them everyday. I also liked how the reviewer talked about how the audience of the film can never tell that Edie is going to a college that is taught by nuns. I agree with him because she seems like she likes to get her hands dirty and get her nose into other people's business.
When I was watching On the Waterfront, I was trying to figure out what the jacket and the pigeons symbolized. When I read the article "On the Waterfront," which was reviewing the book on the movie, it talked about how the pigeons symbolized Terry's connection with Joey, the Golden Warriors, and the neighborhood boys' gang. It then made sense to me once I had read that because Terry took care of Joey's pigeons once he died along with his own. When the pigeons were killed by the boys, they were mad at Terry and didn't want to have a connection with him anymore. I still not entirely sure what the jacket symbolized, but I know that who ever whore the jacket got in trouble with the mob. Joey and Kayo were killed and Terry was badly beaten, but survived.
On the Waterfront, was a interesting movie that kept me on my feet because I never knew who the mob was going to kill next. I thought it had a very good ending to the film because Terry did win and everyone cheered for him. I am now interested in watching more older films just because the ones I have seen have been really good.