Flash Review: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Marlon Brando is out-of-this-world great in this mid-century film by Elia Kazan, based on the play by Tennessee Williams, but he’s stranded alone in a stuffy, impossibly melodramatic domestic drama that goes on forever. There are sudden bursts of great dialog but the material and Vivien Leigh’s (Oscar winning) performance are insufferably over-the-top. Why is this such a classic?
Drat. Too bad this is no good. I’ve only seen modern play versions, and I really quite like the story. Altho, Madame Blanche is the beeyatch of all time.
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Such a beeyatch! Haha. The central conflict is very interesting but the dialog is so awful. I can definitely see a more modern, stripped-down adaptation working very well.
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“Why is this such a classic?” I felt the exact same way. What a letdown.
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I know 😦
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It’s like asking why is pizza so tasty or the Grand Canyon so magnificent. It just is. 😉
Sorry you didn’t enjoy this classic. It’s one of the highlights of the 1950s for classic film lovers.
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Oh I haven’t seen this yet but I really should! Funny that we both saw a film by Tennessee Williams, I saw The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond which was written by Williams back in the 80s.
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I’ll check out your review later today! I can’t recommend Streetcar except for Brando’s amazing performance.
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Well at least there’s Brando, young Brando no less, ahah. The one I saw was just ok, not great.
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appreciate the honest review. although cant explain, can’t say I was too surprised by your last sentence. (Maybe it was your lukewarm thoughts on Star Wars, which is another classic.)
But I think that ASND is a great film primarily because of Brando’s character and his interesting relationship with the troubled woman- initially he is untrusting of her then he seems that he wants to help her
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That is interesting, but I just found everyone so unlikeable and the dialog so ott
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Oh, and you should check out my latest post!
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It looks that this was the hottest of its time, isn’t it?
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Yeah, it’s pretty steamy, both literally and figuratively.
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You are right ……
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