A Streetcar Named Desire Film Analysis

Does the Film Do Justice to the Play? The world today offers the viewer or reader many platforms or mediums in which to become a part of the vision created by an author. You may read something in print, and then be able to listen to it in an audio book, perhaps see it in a play format or in some cases have the opportunity to see a film representation. Different mediums, even though basically following the same storyline, will present the viewer with varying perspectives and interpretations of that storyline. A case in point is, after reading Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire then viewing the 1951 film version, one can see how the medium inflects variables specific to that medium alone. It is imperative to note

It is the tale of Blanche Dubois, on the surface the epitome of a genteel southern lady, but in reality she is a broken woman leading a decadent life of alcohol and promiscuous sex to hide from the guilt over her homosexual husband’s suicide. Blanche, when she can no longer hide from the harsh reality of her present existence in Laurel, seeks shelter in the home of her sister Stella and her husband Stanley Kowalski in an impoverished section of New Orleans. Blanche’s fragile façade is shattered when confronted with Stanley’s unvarying abusive and malicious pursuit of her destruction. It is within each conversation, throughout the story that the reader can interpret Stanley’s deadly obsession with destroying the fragile hold Blanche has on reality. As this destructive conflict is brought to the medium of cinematography, it becomes heavily influenced by the mediums variables like stage directions, lighting, and actor

Stella, Blanche’s sister, is perceived within the play as a subordinate character, merely providing clarity to her abusive vindictive husband and the ever growing instability of her sister. Yet, in the film Stella becomes a character that balances out the nature of her relationship with Stanley. The actress’s portrayal of Stella, by facial and body expressions, presents in the film, not a victim in Stella but an active participant in the manner in which Stanley treats women. The aggressive nature Stella perpetuates with Stanley transitions Stella from a victimized character to one of strength and culpability. Whereas the play elicited a need for compassion for this character the film did not. Ironically, the change in the last scene of the film, Stella supposedly leaves Stanley, further diminishes Stella as a victim and only reinforces her culpability in the incarceration of her sister Blanche. The director’s vision and actor portrayals were not a congruent transition from print to film. To this end, I would have to say that the film substantially modified my perceptions of the characters and the theme, thereby losing the scope of the original