On The Waterfront

My first movie was On The Waterfront.  My first thought afterwards was that I wondered what the significance of filming people putting a cigarette in their mouth was.  It appeared that they put one in their mouth after a stressful situation such as the priest on his way up with Dugan when he was killed or the bartender after Terry was not a threat with his gun anymore in the bar.  Maybe that was the significance.

Anyway, the movie was about human dignity and standing up what's right, but I didn't exactly see it that way.  I saw it as union and labor corruption and felt that Terry was never really sure if he wanted to do the right this; and his fellow union brothers didn't appear to be in much of a hurry sto stand behind him once he did stand up to the union.  I think that Terry's reasons for fighting back were for revenge, not for doing what was right.  He wanted to hurt the union for what they did to his brother more than for what the union was doing to the laborers.

Kazan wanted to make films based on his personal experience, and he wanted to tell the truth as he saw it for what was going on at the waterfront.  Kazan wanted his films to reflect his own struggles, such as testifying at the House Committee on Un-American Activities as a witness.

Kazan wanted to show the struggles of the lower working class and the corruption of the unions in On The Waterfront and I think he did a good job of making it realistic.  He told the human story of Terry Malloy and showed us right away in the beginning of the movie that Terry had a conscience and liking Edie only made him want to do better.