On The Waterfront

Hey everybody guess who's back. after a little hiatus related to weddings and other projects. i'm returning with the American Film buff blogs. today is a siple on to get things rolling again. Here's "On the Waterfront".

The story takes place on the waterfront of a New York Harbor, of most likely Brooklyn. Longshoreman, Teddy Malloy is inadvertently responsible for for the murder of a fellow longshoreman at the hands of local mob boss Johnny friendly. Teddy is a once up and coming boxer who took a dive for Friendly and lives in shame of his decisions.

as the story progresses it becomes clear that Friendly is responsible for several murders on the dock and that The entire workforce is afraid of him. a local pastor urges the men to unionize and rid cup against Friendly. Teddy is assigned to spy on them and find out who the big players are. Along the way Teddy meats Edie, the sister of the man who's life Teddy was responsible for.  the two slowly fall in Love. and Teddy ends himself turns between the love of his life and ratting out his friends. 

Can Teddy malloy help the dockworkers liberate themselves while finding his self worth once more?

While not exactly the most complexed of films the story definitely has its weight to it. Teddy Malloy is a tragic character living up to the mistakes he made in life. theres this definite sadness to the dock workers ho all live under the fearful rule of Johnny Friendly. but what makes Teddy so great as a hero is his ability to rise up above his fears and do the right thing. There is a famous moment between Teddy and his brother, who also happens to be Johnny's right hand man. where the talks about what he could have been but chose to be nothing more than a punk for his brother. you can just feel the tragedy in his eyes and you know that there is nothing but regret to him.

All in all its a very straight foreword film on ethat i enjoyed for its significance in history. apparently its supposed to be an allegory for the red scare from the opposing side of the argument. but really the gem of the film is Marlo Brando who by god is one of the greatest actors i have ever seen. not much to it but definitely worth the watch.