Movie #10: On The Waterfront, 1954
Raw and cold, the waterfront location sets a bleak scene for this hard and impossible love story. Yes, I said love story. I wasn't expecting a love story!
The movie opens with a murder, a cover up, and an uneasy conscience. It's the latter that starts the plot rolling, and causes the unravelling of our main character played by Marlon Brando. It's this unravelling that allows him to open his heart. And, as often is the case, he finds that the road to find true love is a rough way to go. Although I find it hard to believe that our female heroin could fall for this good-for-nothing punk, who stood by while his thug friends murdered her brother, their relationship mirrors the difficult situation Brando's character is in with the union mobsters.
I was struck by how the whole thing sent a chill throughout my body as I watched this film. It was cold, through and through. The only warmth came from how love took a boy and turned him into a man...one who stands up for himself and those who cannot stand on their own. That part was warm and beautiful.
This movie was a new one for me, and I'm not sure that it is one I would enjoy watching over and over again.
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