The film A Streetcar Named Desire from the silent film era through the 1950s - Essay Example

?Using the film "A Streetcar d Desire" from the silent film era through the 1950s, choose an actor or actress with a major role and discuss his/her use of the tools of the craft of acting. Some claim that Marlon Brando’s performance in the movie a streetcar named desire gave a new direction to acting styles. This black and white movie was released in 1951. The story of this movie revolves around a mentally disturbed character named Blanche DuBois who goes to visit her younger sister named Stella. Stella is married to Stanley played by Marlon Brando and they are expecting a child. Stanley and Blanche are the two central characters of this movie. The story gradually becomes interesting as friction begins to develop between Stanley and Blanche. Stanley being an uncouth, randy, sweaty and rough character does not like Stella very much which ultimately leads to immoral and violent depictions in the movie. The movie received a lot of criticism upon its release regarding the vulgarity and decadence depicted in it. Brando’s performance as Stanley is hailed as one the best performances in the history of American cinema. Brando was able to represent the exact nature of Stanley in front of the viewers. Stanley had to be uncouth yet attractive to women and Marlon Brando was just the man for that. This paper will analyze Marlon Brando’s acting skills in this movie. Later on, these skills and tools will be associated with the method acting presented by Uta Hagen in her book Respect for Acting. Stanley wears shirts that reveal his muscles and sweat; he drinks and smokes in a greedy fashion yet he possesses a grace in his personality. He is gentle in his own sense. Brando played this character in very realistic manner. He gave the character true raw emotions. His style in this movie is said to have influenced the Hollywood film industry so much that it inspired many artists such as Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson and James Dean. Before Brando’s performance in this movie, no matter how violent the emotions in acting may be, audience could always spot a hint of modesty in it. Brando left a mark on acting style that was adopted by Hollywood and embraced by the audience immediately. Brando portrayed more than just the violent nature of the character. Every single action of the Brando in this character feels as real as his anger outbursts. Moreover, Brando was able to pull off this role with such delicacy that he left a lot of fragments of Stanley’s personality for the audience to interpret. There are instances where the audience cannot easily interpret the actions of Stanley because there is no apparent cause for the way he behaves and this makes the audience wonder about the life of the character which ultimately leads to the development of sympathy towards characters. The character shows that it has much more than just his raw violent outbursts and callous behavior (Ebert). Brando sank in this character so well that the audience could not view Stanley and Brando as two different individuals. In fact, Brando himself became the character and was soon associated with Stanley. The charms of his acting can be measured by the fact that the audience started learning to develop sympathy for film characters after this movie. Brando presented Stanley to the audience in a manner that would distress them but this distress is accompanied by enticement. The audience fell in love with a loathsome character. The charm of the character overpowered them. Brando’s sexual appeal and charms superseded Stanley’s uncouth and rowdy behavior. If we take the audience out of picture, even then it would be hard to separate the two entities as they resolved well together. It seems that Brando did not make any effort playing this character. He was so at ease that it appears Stanley is a part of Brando’s personality. Such realistic acting comes from specific methodologies that involve the resolution of the character and the actor. Unlike the conventional acting of the rest of the cast of the movie, Brando’s acting was down to earth in this movie. He expressed pure and raw emotions in the movie which was quite surprising for the audience. His anger outbursts and sensual expressions are casual and instant as if Brando would personally feel the same way in such situations. His acting involved spontaneous emotional reactions to situations. This technique involved the psychological analysis of the character. Brandon familiarizes himself with not just how to act as Stanley but why to act as Stanley. In any film, there are basically three parts of how actors interact and present themselves namely dialogue, emotions and actions. During dialogues and actions there are certain pauses that are to be filled with emotions to impart the intended message or idea across to the audience. Their execution is primarily what distinguishes the level of acting. Emotions are impotent unless associated with actions and this is exactly what Brando did (Hagen). To create the ideal theatrical aesthetics, he associated the character with himself to incite the same emotions and this is one of the acting methodologies mentioned in Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen. Brando’s character in this movie could have been represented as a total brute but that is not how Brando acted out. Stanley’s actions in this movie were objectionable as vulgar, insolence, brazen and violent in that particular time frame but still the audience did not view him as a brute. Throughout the latter half of the movie Stanley can be seen drinking, smoking, shouting at his wife and her sister and smashing things around in anger but yet he somehow manages to be irresistible to women. Stanley’s mood changes are abrupt. He would be calm and gentle in one instant and totally opposite of that in the next. Brando carried out these sudden elevations in distress level magnificently. Brando brought the element of spontaneity in his actions as Stanley. There are scenes where he is almost completely agitated such as while playing cards with his friends and there are several scenes in which he acts out completely calm but experiences a sudden outburst of anger due to the actions of other characters. Brando carried out these emotions along with action and these actions are what made those emotions life like and potent. In one scene he displays a tantrum of rage while having dinner with his wife and her sister. The scene involves him pounding his fist on the table and just when the audience thinks his temper is about to cool down, he throws something else from the table onto the wall. These violent actions were spontaneous and unpredicted which made his acting realistic in front of the audience. Marlon Brando earned his first Academy award nomination for best actor through this movie. This movie was his big step that made his face familiar all across America. Brando clearly incorporated method acting in his role as Stanley. This hypothesis can be traced back to the time when Marlon moved to Ney York and enrolled in the dramatic workshop under the guidance of Stella Adler. Stella introduced Brando to draw emotional energy from his personal life and this energy can then be channeled into the role or character that he plays. Brando executed this technique with perfection in his role as Stanley. His incorporation of raw emotions and his relationship with the character and the audience clearly depict the revolutionary acting methodologies that were pioneered by the Russian dramatic theorist, Constantin Stanislavsky. Respect for Acting is based on the same methodologies that Adler taught Brando. This methodology basically requires the actors to think about their experiences and associate them with that of the characters. This way the actor can give a realistic depiction of a plot. Marlon Brando was one amazing actor who brought a new stream of acting style in the film industry. The method acting presented in Respect For Acting was first personified by Marlon Brando in the role of Stanley in the movie A Streetcar named desire. Works Cited Ebert, Roger. "A Streetcar Named Desire." Roger Ebert. Suntimes, 12 Nov 1993. Web. 25 Aug 2012.. Fevang, Fredrik. "A Streetcar Named Desire." arnadal. N.p., 11 April 2008. Web. 25 Aug 2012. . Hagen, Uta. Respect For Acting. New York: Wiley Publishing, 1973. Print. "Marlon Brando Biography." The biography channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug 2012. . Read More