Movie Analysis: On the Waterfront

Elia Kazan’s film, On the Waterfront, is a brilliant answer to the theme of Miller's play, The Crucible. The brilliance comes in large part because of the devices he uses to make the film. Three of those devices used are the Mise-en-scene, Costumes, and Directing.

When filming On the Waterfront, the Mise-en scene device used in the creation of the film, was a big contribution to the success of the movie.  Using the docks and piers of the Hobkoken, kazan achieves the realness of the world rather than using a fake set with props. Kazan used the most original implements, including the people used in the movie, to depict the authenticity of the world. Majority of Johnny Friendly’s hoodlums weren't even actors; they were former heavyweight fighters who were recruited for their terrifying presence and their brawny stature. On top of having boxers who were not actors, many of the longshoremen who played in the movie were real workers who worked at the New Jersey docks. When filming on the docks, instead of having fog machines, there was natural steam from the docks or the sewers which generated the hazy ambiance that questions the morality of every character. For example, when Malloy finds Father Barry to confess, they were taking a stroll through the park, with a darkening fog whirling around them portraying the eerie, unsettling feeling.  However, the one prop they used was to film the taxicab scene, which was shot in a studio. With Kazan’s great directing, the Mise-en-scene demonstrates the use of genuine theatrics of the actors in real or fake environments.

Another great example of a theme device used in the movie, is how Kazan encorporated the costumes and makeup of the characters to have a deep symbolic meaning. For example, when Edie’s brother died, she is shown as if she is tired and depressed. The grief displayed on her face is to communicate and relate to the watcher by blatantly showing her distress. The different variations of the costumes show the altering emotion of the characters. At the end of the film, rather than Edie being in her regular button down coat, she is shown being in a white slip. Instead of appearing depressed and sad, she is presented as innocent and soft. According to spark notes, she is portrayed as more feminine in contrast to her dark demeanor. Similar to the device Mise-en-scene, Kazan uses the costumes as a way to express the morality of the world and the feelings of the characters.

Lastly, one of the most important yet, is the directing by Kazan which is an addition to why the movie was a big hit. Being famously known for his directing for the film, Kazan wanted to go unnoticed so that the characters could concentrate on the film without distractions. Kazan mainly uses two person close-ups  and intense angles while filming to encapsulate the power indifference between the characters. For example, as Terry Malloy stands on the end of the ramp in between the dockworkers and Johnny Friendly, Kazan portrays Terry as if he were floating in the air. As being below Malloy, Kazan places Friendly at the bottom of the docks where the shack lays, barely floating on the water, as if he were alone in purgatory. These symbolic interactions represent the power indifference and the moral standing of each character. In addition to this interaction, Kazan uses the conversation between Malloy and Edie, when he confesses his participation in her brother's execution. Although the watcher could not hear the conversation due to the sound of  neighboring ship's horns, it is evident through the emotions portrayed on the characters faces, that he had confessed.  Kazan uses the whistle of the ships to cover the actors' voices because it displays the chaos of the scene and the disoriented sentiment that Malloy and Edie felt at the time. Edie covers her ears during Malloy’s confession as if she were rejecting his confession, then runs away from him as if she were trying to escape the current world she was living in. Not only does Kazan use sound as an important device in his directing but he also uses touching. He made sure characters were touching in some way during each scene which indicates the authenticity of the real world.