A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

You won't be disappointed!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Fantastic!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Brando and Leigh fill in all of the dark corners in the New Orleans flat and its ornate courtyard, the claustrophobic, even haunting world of A Streetcar Named Desire.Many reviewers have commented on Leigh's/Blanche's affected speech, as well as Brando's contrasting inarticulateness. It's sometimes almost impossible to figure out what either of them mean to say, even if you can understand them. But I think it helps both characters: Brando's Stanley pretty much doesn't care what he says; like a more seasoned James Dean, he's action-oriented, talking just gets in the way of doing.Blanche, on the other hand, depends on talking as a sort of prop--to build herself up; thus her elaborate explanations and digressions about trivial or imaginary topics. She's all about keeping up appearances, while Stanley could care less how he looks, or even, to a certain extent, how he acts.Though Stanley is a capable person, and grudgingly respected, he's also deeply flawed. Being a wife-beater wasn't then seen as the disgusting and unacceptable behavior that it now is; but it's clearly the most obvious manifestation of his problems. He doesn't seem to feel right unless he's angry.The interesting thing about Stanley is that he can be calm, even cordial. It's as though he becomes a better person when he puts on better clothes. In a way, he's worse than Blanche, because he can control himself; but he simply has more fun being Mr. Hyde then Dr. Jekyll.Instead of fading in and out like Stanley's Jekyll and Hyde poses, Blanche gets steadily worse. In fact, the last part of the movie plays closer to horror, as Blanche's delusions give us flickering lights, ethereal voices, and the mournful lady selling "flowers for the dead." The creepy doctor from the asylum adds a final scare. He's literally come to take her away; she's undergoing a figurative death, the end of her delusional lifestyle.Maybe it's good that Kim Hunter's and Karl Malden's characters are relatively weak compared to Brando and Leigh. Otherwise, either Stella would stand up to Stanley, and Blanche would never leave, or Mitch would marry Stella, and then maybe he would go nuts. No resolution possible in either alternative plot. With all the yelling and acting out, the physical confines of A Streetcar Named Desire are dwarfed by the psychological tumult. Maybe the best film adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play.

I watched this tonight for the first time and I really feel the need to say something that is completely out of step with every other opinion I've read.First, I should explain that I love movies from all periods and have bought over 1,500 films on DVD and Blu Ray, all ranging from 1920s releases right through to current day.I have often been stunned by the acting performances of both main stars and supporting cast, and this film provides another few good examples of what must be considered masterful acting. Marlon Brando, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter all shine in this movie, and they deserve every accolade thrown their way. But Vivien Leigh?There is not a single moment when I didn't find her acting to be completely over the top or lacking in authenticity. In fact, every scene of hers was painful, and the contrast it made with her co-stars was embarrassing to witness. I tried to remind myself that she was playing the part of someone who was going mad, but this fact provided no excuse for the shameful performance she gives here.We've all seen people doing roles like this before, since portraying mental instability/illness is nothing new to the big screen, and there are many, many cases where it is handled superbly and the descent into insanity is made completely believable by the actor in question. But in 'Streetcar' Vivien handles it as if she's never even been in front of a camera before.Watch her eyes, her reactions to people's comments and questions: there is not one second where she doesn't seem to be combining the automated recital of memorised dialogue with over-the-top emotion, and it was obvious to this viewer right from the start that she didn't understand how to portray authentic emotion/reaction at all.Yeah, yeah, I've read the reviews that all gush over her performance, even the director's comment that she brought everything he wanted to the role and more. At first this fact puzzled me greatly, since I found her performance to be easily the worst I've seen out of tens of thousands of performances in perhaps 20,000 or more movies over the years. But then I discovered that she was married to Lawrence Olivier right throughout her career, and everything suddenly made sense.How do you tell one of the greatest actors of all time that his wife reeks as an actress? Better yet, how do you cover for her awful performances when there is the possibility of a public backlash over her roles that could prove embarrassing for the great man? That's easily solved: just hand her an Academy Award and that will shut everyone up. "Oh, she got the Academy for that part?! Okay, then it must be good!"It isn't, and it brings down what could have been a 9/10 for 'Streetcar' to a 7, in my opinion.PS - I also found her acting to be just as painful in 'Gone With the Wind', and guess what?! She got the Academy Award for that part too!! Go figure.

For two hours I desired to jump into the screen and strangle one of my favorite actresses. I think Vivien Leigh was bit kook, cause something like this can not be completely faked. One of the most deserved Oscars I have ever seen. All 4 leading actors were nominated and only Brando didn't win it. I consider him one of the greatest actors of all time and his performance here definitely is on the level of Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter. I'm most sorry that Tennessee Williams didn't win the Oscar for screenplay, cause story of this depth and strength is rarely seen in movies. Mandatory for all film lovers.............................

Absolute misandrist garbage! It should've been titled more appropriately thus, "SYMPATHY FOR A HARLOT". The protagonist, Blanche DuBois, is a swindler, a golddigger, a paedophile, a harlot, and a lunatic. She also drives her homosexual(not mentioned in the movie) husband to suicide. Yet all the sympathy in the movie is reserved for her because she's shown as a victim of the patriarchal society. It's the same old cry, "I wasn't bad, it's the men who made me do it." All male characters are shown as brutes/pigs and all women are shown as angels and men's victims. Compare it with the answer to this movie, Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.