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- 11/12 Team Blanche or Team Stanley?
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When you read the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, your perception of the two main characters may have been different from the way you felt about Blanche and Stanley as depicted in the film version.
A) Do you feel the characters came off differently from play to film?
B) Which character did you appreciate more in the film: Blanche or Stanley?
Here is the link again that shows the various trailers for the film (specifically from 7:00 till 13:32):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vul5vnirove2rho/Streetcar%20trivia%20nondisk%2020181.avi?dl=0
A) Do you feel the characters came off differently from play to film?
I feel Stanley came off differently from play to film. He seemed to talk more aggressively than I interpreted when reading the play.
B) Which character did you appreciate more in the film: Blanche or Stanley?
I appreciate Stanley in the film more because the film allowed me to hear his voice and see his body language, which grew my understanding of him as a character.
Angel, though Stanley is cruel, he is also funny, like when he calls one of Blanche’s garments a “solid gold dress.”
A) Do you feel the characters came off differently from play to film?
I think Stanley came off differently because in the play he is a gambler, drinker, and more of a violent person. As seeing the film he is a violent person during that gambling scene bashing the window with a chair. I pictured him as a drunk person and someone who likes to gamble until all the money is gone. But after seeing the film I get a better understanding of who he is.
B) Which character did you appreciate more in the film: Blanche or Stanley?
I appreciate Stanley more in the film because the film gives me a better understanding of who Stanley is like what type of person. Also, he seems like he always has a drink beside him. The film gave me a better understanding of the type of guy he is such as he seems aggressive towards his wife’s sister (sister-in-law) at the end of the film.
WeiPeng, Stanley just plays cards with his friends. I do not think gambling is a real vice for him. The one time he was shown to have drunk to excess is after his child is born, but then he gets crueler and assaults Blanche. Blanche seems to have more of a drinking problem based on the dialog.
A) Do you feel the characters came off differently from play to film?
They come off extremely different. You can always understand their mood, but not the way it is expressed in the film version. The mood is there for both versions, but the film version gives you the reactions and expressions you want.
B) Which character did you appreciate more in the film: Blanche or Stanley?
Blanche for sure. She carries herself strongly, has an attitude, and is honest, which I can see from the trailer and enjoy from the play.
Gabby, Blanche is truly sympathetic and sad, but she does live in her illusions (and does lie) because her reality is too harsh for her to bear.
She likes to put a happy face on things as a way of coping and had spent years using sex with young men as a way to hold on to her youth. We do not dislike her, but she is odd. In a way she is like Humbert Humbert: they both lost a young love in their lives and sought solace from other young people.A) Do you feel the characters came off differently from play to film?
Stanley is different in that he is more forceful and assertive in the film than in the play; for example, he grabs Stella in the film but not in the play, and he appears to be more unpleasant in the film.
B) Which character did you appreciate more in the film: Blanche or Stanley?
I appreciate both of the characters in the film; we get a deeper knowledge of Stanley and can see and hear exactly how he acts, hearing his voice boom is a different feeling from reading it, and we get to see more sides of Blanche, who is fantastic.
Shania, notice that Hollywood chose to put a moralistic ending on the film wherein Stanley gets “punished” by Stella for his cruelty, while in the play she stands by his side. However, considering how passionate they are about one another, her “separation” from him at the end probably lasted only minutes!
A) Do you feel the characters came off differently from play to film?
The major difference between the play and the film is the amount of time each has to tell the story. A film has a strict time frame whereas the time for a movie film is also strict on time but allows the visuals to be more great and how each character is expressedOkay, Justin, but in the case of a play-to-film, other than some vocabulary differences since plays in 1949 were able to use more “adult” words than films in 1951 were allowed, the exact playing time is very close. When someone goes to a live play or musical, there is usually an intermission. It gives the audience time to get refreshments and use the bathroom. It gives the stagehands time to make scenery changes, and the actors to change costumes.
When one goes from a novel to a film, usually things are left out due to film length. When one goes from a short story to a film, usually things are added like is the case for the three short stories this semester. Those movie versions must be expanded. But play lengths and movie version lengths are basically the same.
B) Which character did you appreciate more in the film: Blanche or Stanley?
Stanley is the epitome of vital force. He is loyal to his friends, passionate to his wife, and heartlessly cruel to Blanche.Undoubtedly Marlon Brando made a huge impact on Hollywood and even on naturalistic acting styles. But basically, despite his attractiveness and wit, he is cruel. Meanwhile, poor Blanche is for many people relegated to less importance though she is vulnerable and sympathetic.
This perception of who dominates the film, perhaps, is all in the timing.
Brando was new to films, having only done one other film before this movie, The Men. Meanwhile, Vivian Leigh had made her indelible mark to moviegoers in 1939’s hugely popularGone with the Wind. She won Oscars for both, but the takeaway to most viewers of A Streetcar Named Desire was all about Brando.
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