A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire is a drama featuring lust, domestic abuse, and mental fragility, that takes place in post WWII New Orleans. The story follows the mental deterioration of a disillusioned woman named Blanche who has moved in with her sister, Stella, and brother in law, Stanley. The play takes place in Stella’s small, disheveled apartment, with a few scenes in the surrounding neighborhood. The Film captures the rundown charm of the French Quarter perfectly. The bustling streets are full of the two story buildings with columns, balconies, and delicately patterned metal arches, customary of the Quarter at the time. The club Blanch goes to with her suitor, Mitch, is playing the quick-tempo jazz that filled New Orleans after the war and Blanch and Stella wear the short pin curls in their hair and the short sleeve, V-neck dresses, popular in the 40s.
Aside from the charming set, the movie’s allure stems from the explosive characters, all of whom are slightly unhinged in their own way. Blanche is an extremely anxiety-prone woman who has been damaged by the suicide of her husband, the loss of her home and money, and the things she did in the wake of these events. She is frequently haunted by the sound of the gunshot that killed her husband is overtaken by panic. Later in the film we find out that after his death, Blanche found solace in frequent sex with strangers and even had an affair with a one of her high school students. She was fired from her job and acquired a citywide, bad reputation. It was because of this that she was forced to escape to her sister’s place in New Orleans. However, Blanche does not live with this past in mind. She has woven a web of lies that she believes almost as much as everyone around her. Stanley, resistant to her charm, goes digging into her past and destroys the illusion she has created. Blanche also refuses to recognize her age. She does everything she can to hide the toll that time has taken on her beauty. When confronted by Mitch with all of her dishonesty, Blanche replies, “I don’t want realism. I want magic […] I don’t tell truth. I tell what ought to be the truth.” Vivien Leigh plays this nervous yet charming and flirtatious woman perfectly. She has a delicate and highly expressive face.
Blanche’s downfall is her delusions. Stanley’s demons are his alcoholism and his temper. He refuses to be disrespected and goes into fits of rage when he thinks he is. He gets in frequent shouting matches with Stella that often end with him manhandling her or breaking something. In addition, Stanley drinks heavily and often and his temper only worsens when he is drunk. Marlon Brando is well suited for the part, with his powerful demeanor, confident gate, and convincing displays of anger.
Stella, blinded by her strong attraction to him, refuses to leave. Every time she runs away after an act of violence, he calls her back with the sorrowful bellowing of her name. While it is hard not to judge her for always giving in to her abusive husband, I admired her for not being afraid to stand up to him. She always calls him on his loudness and rudeness, but when he gets physical, there is nothing she can do. In the end of the film, Stella does finally decide to leave Stanley because he rapes Blanche. This however, is a deviation from the play.
In addition to Stella’s ability to stand up to her husband, it was refreshing that the two female characters were portrayed as sexual beings, Stella as lust driven and Blanche as promiscuous. At this time, the sexuality of females was often censored or denied all together in films.
In the end of the film, when Stanley uncovers Blanche’s lies and the illusion that she has built for herself starts to disintegrate, Blanche loses her grip on reality even further. She creates a suitor who is going to whisk her away. Yet when the doorbell rings, it is the man from the mental institution that Stella has arranged to come get her.
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