In the 1950s, influenced by the Italian neo-realism trend, the American realism school also flourished, and Ilya Kazan is the representative of this school. The realist school advocates that the subject matter should be close to life, reflect and criticize serious social issues, and at the same time strive to be realistic and simple in filming, and like to use a large number of extras. As a result, we saw this close-to-documentary-style performance in "The Dock", as well as a large number of extras, which made the whole film without pretentiousness, showing the true state of life and work of dock workers in the United States in the 1950s .
The story line of this film is relatively simple and clear, and the highlight is the inner play of Terry played by Marlon Brando. On one side is the dock trade union that he depends on for a living. Although the chairman has done all kinds of bad things, he is not bad to himself, and his brother still holds an important position in the trade union; . We can see how powerful Marlon Brando's "method" acting is when dealing with "Terry"'s erratic and dilemma. Of course, it was a woman who finally broke his inner balance. His relationship with the victim's sister finally made him fall to the workers' side.
In the film, Terry's choice to declare justice is unconscious. There are both emotional factors with Eddie and the factors that he was manipulated when he was a boxer, but it is because he has no personal consciousness as a "worker's identity". Personally, I think it is very wise to deal with this point, which is very in line with Terry's background and thinking level. So, given Elijah Kazan's communist background (although later disgraceful anti-communist behavior), in this film, which aims to accuse American unions of corruption, it is the "priest" as a supporting role instead. It has undertaken more of the film's mission in the spiritual field, and led the resistance and awakening of a large number of workers. It is a seemingly minor but important role that cannot be ignored.
From today's point of view, perhaps the story of "The Dock" is a bit monotonous and lacks some entertainment, but for those who like Marlon Brando and Ilya Kazan, as well as those who are interested in American realist movies in the 1950s. For movie fans, it's still worth watching.
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