On the Waterfront is one of my favorite movies. It is a great film for many reasons. I like it mostly because of the amazing performances of Marlon Brando. He plays Terry, a young ex-boxer who works for the corrupt union boss Johnny Friendly, until an unexpected death arouses his conscience. The story based on a number of true stories that happened on the New York waterfront. Although I was not interested in this kind of mob violence story before, I still want to watch it again and again. In my mind, this is a Marlon Brando’s film. The realism of the film also impresses me, especially the littered alleys and rooftops.
There are two scenes that I will never forget. The scene where Terry and Edie walk through a park and he toys with her glove gives me a big surprise. Brando’s performance is so natural and is a great example for method acting. Another scene is the powerful one-to-one between Terry and Charley in the back of a taxicab where Brando delivers the famous "I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody."
A lot of symbols can be found. The pigeons are very easy to be seen in the film. At the beginning, Terry uses a pigeon to coax Joey to an ambush. When he succeeds, he releases the pigeon. The fly-away pigeon symbolizes justice and the last conscience of Terry. The pigeons are cooped up in the cage and trained to not resist. In a certain way, all the longshoremen are pigeons. Their lives are controlled. They are made to be deaf and dumb ("D&D"), just like pigeons on the rooftop. The pigeons also symbolize Terry. He is a tough ex-boxer, a contender, just like the pigeons flying freely in the sky. However, both Terry and pigeons are in a cage now. Terry’s cage is just invisible. That’s why there are always all kinds of fences around Terry. The fences are also symbols of cages.
There are also some other symbols. For example, the hook represents the force on longshoremen exerted by Johnny Friendly and the power behind him. At the closing scene, Terry throws his hook on the door of Johnny’s “room”. This action represents his challenge to the unjust force. Another interesting symbol is the traveling of Joey’s jacket. Anyone who wears Joey’s jacket decides to testify against Johnny Friendly and be an informer.
I think Father Barry has the most influence on Terry. The “accidental” death of Kayo Dugan is a turning point of the movie. In the sermon, Terry resists Johnny Friendly for the first time. It is Father Barry who asks Terry to tell the truth to Edie and prevents him from killing Johnny and encourages him to testify against Johnny Friendly. Father Barry is brave and not afraid to die for the right person. He is a great dramatic figure.
The director’s intent is to tell his opinion about who is the real one that controls the life of longshoreman. “I will be back” is the last sentence of Johnny Friendly. He knows that he has a chance and the power to be back. I think both Terry and Johnny are being used. Their fighting is just important to themselves. To the dominator, who is watching television with his back facing us, they are nothing.
In China, there are still many manual laborers whether in steel mills, coal mines or elsewhere. Their welfare cannot always be protected properly. There are also no characters like Father Barry.
The next thing to mention is that the film also shows the director’s attitude to informers. By telling the story of Terry, Kazan explains why he made his HUAC decision—his conscience insist that he must do this thing. At the end of On the Waterfront, Terry is surrounded with people who admire and respect him. His informing has benefited all the longshoremen. He has no reason to doubt his decision. But to Kazan, it is hard to say so.
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