Film Techniques
 Directing is invisible (avoids flashy camera work,
extreme angles, intense close-ups and overt camera
movements).
 Often actors appear in two-shot (two people at
midrange) or in wider shots to show the
arrangements of characters.
 Positioning of characters shows power dynamics.
 There is suggestive framing – Father Barry hoisted
out of the hold with Dugan’s body.
Malloy’s confession to Edie:
 Viewer doesn’t hear all of the crucial conversation.
 Ship’s whistle is overpowering.
 It suggests depth of feeling, frenzy and confused
emotions
 Feelings are more important than the words
 Scenes like this are rare in the movie world.
Film techniques
 Use a lot of physical touch – emphasises the
crowded environment and affirms intimacy of all the
relationships.
 Images of the waterfront – all actions – Terry’s
confession does not occur in church – outside
 Mise-en-scene – the physical environment in which
the film takes place is not a set.
 Kazan achieves authenticity and grit
Film Techniques
 The goons are not actors – they are actual former
heavy weight boxers
 Longshoremen – many are actual workers
 The background sounds on the docks – add to
realistic environment
 ALL ADD TO HEIGHTEN THE REALITY AND DEPTH OF
CHARACTERS’ STRUGGLES AND EMOTIONS
Film Techniques
 Filmed during New York’s coldest winters
 The steamy hot air seeping up through the sewers or
steam being released on the docks creates a misty visual
atmosphere – suggests moral ambiguity of every
character.
 There was only one scene not shot on location – taxi
scene
 Not much makeup or elaborate costuming used.
 The changes in costuming – key indicators of shifting
emotion or suggested eroticism.
Acting
 Brando – Inarticulate, his movements reveal his struggle –
chews gum, shrugs, lags behind, pulls his collar up and
stuffs his hands in his pockets – Nervous, evasive
gestures.
 Henchmen – stand strong in twos and threes. Solid hats
and long overcoats.
 Henchmen make eye contact – Malloy frequently looks
away.
 Improvisation – ‘white glove’ scene
 Taxi scene – choice of unconventional reactions
Black and White
 Deliberate
 Placed itself in movie world as different from
technicolour of the time.
 Realistic, documentary style
 Location
 Script relies on real life conversations with longshoremen
 Gives film social realism
 Not a film about escapism – complements dark issues.
Daytime is gritty and cruel.
Music
 Leonard Bernstein’s score – music of opening scene
mirrors the harsh reality of the New York waterfront
in winter and the lives of those who reside in the
community.
Lighting
 Documentary style
 Frontal lighting – just projected at performers – the
effect is flat, cold, not sympathetic
 Darkness represents evil
 Grey shadows – overpowering, ominous
 Big ships overshadow small ships
 Edie – light
 Ending – not clear
Motifs
 Definition: Recurring structures, contrasts or Literacy
devices than can help to develop and inform the texts
major themes.
 The rooftop as a retreat from the world.
 Crucifixion dialogue / images
 “D ‘n D” (work machines without identities)
 Coats
Motif - Coats

Long coats set aside with short coats

Crime investigators and long coats (ruthless – have a job to do – don’t care about
individuals) - air of mystery, can’t be trusted, similar to mob, prepared to sacrifice lives to
get results

Father Barry’s coat has to be dirtied before he is trusted

Joey’s jacket is offered as a precious gift - shared hardship- shared friendship - mantle of
truth holder is passed on with it – dons the skin of a martyr.

Intimate to wear someone else’s jacket

Terry’s jacket – checkerboard pattern – childlike – he is able to stand out

Change in costume – key indicators of shifting emotion or suggested eroticism.

Longshoremen’s clothes – worn out – vulnerable

Edie’s coat – feminine – has it on for protection in many scenes – shows innocence and
discomfort at times

Mob coats – comfortable, don’t have to do physical work, shows wealth, mystery,
superiority
Symbols
 Definition: Objects, characters, figures or colours used
to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
 Hudson River – (a border, edge they will never
cross). Manhattan – Empire State Building –
unattainable
 Pigeons – cooped up in cages – fragile. Natural
impulse is to fly but are trained not to. (perfectly
symbolise Terry Malloy – tough but has an affinity
with birds.
 Hawks – The corrupt union – the mob
Symbols
 Hooks – Hang over shoulders menacingly.
Represent the forces that literally hang over them
(Friendly’s goons).
 Gloves – (appear twice) Indicate a shift in the
dynamics of the scene – exposing a new layer of a
character’s anxiety, sexuality, vulnerability.
1. Park scene
2. Charley in the taxi scene (suggest he is bound
to face something uncomfortable (one naked
hand suggests vulnerability)
Symbols
 Cyclone fences / Spikes – caged . Terry has allowed Friendly and Charley to
take over his life – like he is half alive. Does not have free will
 When Terry decides to testify, we see blue skies – he has freedom and is
able to fly
 Fence at church isolate mob from religion
 Edie on one side representing purity
 Father Barry on the hill – self-righteous – realises he may have done
something wrong.
 Daytime scenes – smoke and mist used to create doubt. Suggest
claustrophobic world they live in compared to the crispness of the night.
 Joey falls through lines of clothing – very public
 Non descript street appears as a narrow tunnel with no escape for Terry
and Edie – classic film noir – to create a sense of the world closing in.
Nature
 Usually uncontrollable –uncivilised
 Wedding scene – dancing through vines and ferns – like jungle
 People animalistic – Terry rescues her
 Gorilla-like gangsters appear
 city full of hawks
 ‘do it to him before he does it to you’
 Johnny Friendly becomes animalistic in the courtroom
 Kazan believes in social control – not advocating violence or
resistance to control issues – technique is to divide and
conquer. Violence is only possible as a last resort
Murder Scenes
 Low and gloomy places
 Joey
 Dugan
 Charley
 Terry – tried to kill him low down, near the water’s
edge.
 Final Scene – Open to the skies
Opening Scene
 Sad looking shed amongst the enormous ships and
wharves. – makes us think how important these
people really are.
 Often Terry is seen as separate from the gang – see
as he departs from the shed in the opening scene.
Christian Undertones
 Father Barry – John the Baptist figure
 Terry – Christ figure
 Charley and Terry – Cain and Abel
 Terry in the church
 Terry’s cut hand – stigmata –sacrificed like Jesus
 Opening scene – small boat with crucifix – religion is
on the side of the workers – in contrast to the power
of the ship owners
Terry Molloy
 Shunned by dock workers
 Hangs out with kids
 Lifestyle is modest but at the same time he is
cushioned by the mob.
 Without Edie’s influence, he most likely would have
remained the same.
 She stays to solve her brother’s murder and is
attracted to someone who is implicated in the death.
The Place of Women in this
World
 No place
 The woman talking to the policeman is shut out – Pop Doyle considers her
actions a betrayal.
 There is a woman in Friendly’s bar but it is like she doesn’t exist – faceless
 Mr Big’s wife is oblivious to what’s happening
 Classic romantic genre – good woman makes a better man – on the path
to redemption
 By her connection with Terry, Edie becomes weaker and weaker
 When Terry breaks into her apartment – her independence is sucked out of
her
 Central to civilisation and culture
Father Barry
 Edie’s words to Father Barry have struck home
 There is a sense that he wants to be a saint – he is bossy
and authoritative.
 It’s as much about his status as an inspirational leader as
he is interested in the plight of the longshoremen
 Shots of Father Barry – reinforce his view of the world
 High angle shot – Dugan’s death – physically vulnerable
but morally powerful
 Curious sadism is at play in the final scene – ‘Johnny
Friendly’s paying odds that you won’t get up.’
The Ending
 Far from triumphant
 Ship owner – power has not shifted to
longshoremen
 Terry – blur – impossible to see the way forward – far
from clear
 Edie and Father Barry smile
Key Scenes
 Edie goes to the chicken coop
 The Wedding
 The discovery of Charley and Terry’s arrival in the
bar.