March 27, 2009

A Streetcar Named Desire

Title: A Streetcar Named Desire
Year: 1951
Director: Elia Kazan
Writer: Oscar Saul & Tennessee Williams, based on Williams' play
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
Music: Alex North
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actress (Leigh), Best Supporting Actor (Malden), Best Supporting Actress (Hunter) and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Brando), Best Cinematography (black-and-white), Best Score, Best Costume Design (black-and-white) and Best Sound; currently #209 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a crazy lady moves in with her sister and brother-in-law
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), April 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for story, characters, pacing, special effects/design and music) c. 2.7/4 (Good).

I was very disappointed. I expected to like it. The acting other than Leigh's is great. She is unclear, melodramatic and irritating (granted, the character is supposed to be melodramatic and irritating, but that's no excuse). Somebody shut that woman up. Brando: slap her!

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