Brouwer 1

Lleyton Brouwer

HU 201

First Essay Assignment

9/25/2023

Kazan’s Cinematic Choices in “On the Waterfront”

“On the Waterfront” is a 1954 black-and-white Elia Kazan film about a corrupted labor

system taking place in Hoboken, New Jersey. The film explores the details of various characters’

attitudes about what course of action to take when one man, Joey Doyle, is killed on the orders of

the boss of the corrupt organization, Johnny Friendly. Specifically, the film follows the mind of

Terry Malloy, played by the award-winning Marlon Brando, and how his attitude toward

blowing up Johnny’s operation changes through his interactions with his love interest, Edie

Doyle, and other characters. Throughout the film, Kazan and his cinematographer, Boris

Kaufman, utilize various cinematic techniques to reinforce the narrative of the story, including

lighting choices, differentiating camera angles, and deciding when to emphasize foreground,

middle, and background elements.

Before delving into the specifics of how Kazan pushes the screenplay and storyline

forward using artistic cinematic choices, it is important to understand the context in which this

film was created. Before the conception of “On the Waterfront”, Kazan was at the heart of a

scandal regarding the House Un-American Activities Committee, or the HUAC. The HUAC was

looking for specific names of people in the movie industry who were involved with or had been

involved with the communist party in the past. Again, this film was released in 1954, during the

McCarthy era, which was characterized by an anti-Communist hysteria in the US. Kazan did

decide to give names and cooperate with the HUAC eventually, with many conflicting opinions

from the public and press. While it is not too difficult to draw similarities between the film and
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its allegorical context, it is important to note that Kazan definitely saw himself as a specific

character in the movie, and this may have affected how the storyline worked and how characters

were portrayed.

In the first ten minutes of the film, Kazan and Kaufman use two main techniques in order

to add an air of mystery and ominousness to the film. In the opening shot, a slight underexposure

is used in an outdoor setting, giving the dock and massive boat in shot an austere aura. This dim

lighting is continued throughout the prologue section of the film, as some of the main characters

are introduced, including the protagonist, Terry Malloy. Soon after the opening shot, many

scenes in succession are filmed at night, continuing the theme of low lighting, and reinforcing

the ominous feeling the audience gets from the lack of well-lit faces. This choice to deny the

viewer a sense of relaxation and comfortability is executed well, as the introduction of various

characters in the low-light situations keeps tension high between the audience and the screen. In

addition, early on in the film some details are kept from the viewers to increase the sinister and

tense atmosphere. In the opening shot, when a group of men exit the building on the dock, they

are too far in the background to identify them by face, which keeps the audience in suspense as it

is just the first scene and they have absolutely no idea what is happening. The use of scale in the

opening shot is just as important, as it subtly introduces the idea that no individual is larger than

the city. This is important to note as the movie progresses and the audience finds out that Johnny

Friendly was one of the men walking out of the building, signifying that even as powerful as

Johnny seems throughout parts of the film, even he is not larger than the people as a collective, a

motif that reappears in the final scene.

Kazan and Kaufman seem to favor the technique of panning in order to signify important

events in the early scenes of the film. Just a minute in, Kazan uses a beautiful aerial shot of Terry
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walking across a street. However, before showing Terry himself, Kazan centers Terry’s shadow

on a wall, and then as Terry walks forward the camera pans to center Terry’s body instead.

During this time period, the pan was generally used in film in order to foreshadow certain events

by panning toward specific objects or characters that would be at the center of attention in the

next shot or scene. In this case, the pan is used to show that Terry would be talking to Joey Doyle

to convince him to go to the roof of his apartment building. By panning instead of simply

shooting Terry walking across the street, more emphasis is placed on Terry himself - if the

camera stayed on Terry the entire time, we would not realize that something has changed and

take the camera being on Terry for granted, to not mean anything at all. Kazan uses this

technique immediately after this shot as well, after Joey closes his window following his

conversation with Terry. As soon as the window shuts, the camera pans up toward the roof of the

building, where there are two men waiting. Again, the pan is used to foreshadow what will

happen in the next scene, but in this case also builds suspense and may surprise the viewer if

they couldn’t guess what was going to happen next.

Another technique used early in the film by Kazan and Kaufman is that of characters

walking off the screen in order to improve continuity or suspense between shots. This is

especially used early on in the film, first when Terry walks off screen after Johnny pushes him

away as he gets in his car. After this shot, the set of the story changes from the dock to Joey’s

apartment building, so Terry walking off screen prevents the cut from feeling choppy or

unnatural. To further smoothe out the transition, the next shot of the apartment building centers

on Terry’s shadow walking across the sheet, and, as previously mentioned, then pans back to

Terry walking. As a result, Terry’s gait bridges the two scenes with a common action. The same

technique is used again during a scene where Johnny and Terry have a conversation surrounded
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by Johnny’s men around a pool table. Johnny walks off screen after washing his hands in a

bathroom and heads toward his men. In this case, rather than continuation, the technique is used

to build suspense. At this point, we have learned enough about Johnny that he could potentially

be dangerous or unpredictable, so when the camera isn’t directly on him, the audience is left

wondering what he is doing. Here, Kazan builds suspense by having the angry Johnny Friendly

walk hurriedly toward his men as if to attack them, but he simply ends up standing around the

pool table to speak to Terry.

The pool table scene is absolutely packed with immaculate artistic choices from Kazan,

to establish the power dynamics between Johnny, Terry, and Johnny’s crew. Kazan begins to use

various camera angles in order to communicate to the audience how Johnny and Terry are

interacting, foreshadowing how the plot of the film will play out. Firstly, Kazan establishes that

Johnny is in power amongst his goons, by centering Johnny in nearly every shot. Johnny is

centered, standing up straight, with various vertical lines to emphasize his tall and powerful

appearance, such as the vertical lines created by the contrast of his blazer and shirt; his long,

upright tie; as well as the long, straight, stern nature of his facial structure. In contrast, his men

are scattered to either side of him, one is looking directly at him intently; one is sleeping, but

leaning toward Johnny to emphasize the center of the frame; one is leaning toward Johnny and

looking directly at him; and the final man is looking down toward Johnny’s feet.

However, when Johnny is filmed in the same frame as Terry, the power dynamic shifts.

Terry seems to be more in the center of the frame, with Johnny’s close proximity making it look

like he is trying to fight for the power of the center framing. In addition, the posture Johnny has

in relation to Terry puts Terry in a higher position of power, despite Terry being shorter in

height. Johnny leans in toward Terry, making him appear aggressive yet weak, while Terry
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simply stands his ground and looks relatively relaxed (again, in the center of the frame), making

him appear powerful and calm. This is completely backwards for what the audience can gather

about the characters thus far in the story, as Johnny is supposed to be the boss while Terry is just

another worker, but this power dynamic foreshadows how Terry views Johnny and how the story

will eventually play out.

Kazan also uses the technique of camera height in order to portray strength, power, and

the lack thereof in certain characters, as well. For example, out on the docks, when Terry is

simply milling around with the “extras”, or the other workers, the camera is positioned at eye-

level, allowing the audience to experience the scene as if they were one of the men on the dock.

However, at the introduction of one important character, Glover, the height changes, viewing

Glover from higher up while Terry is also in the frame, making Glover appear even taller than

Terry and giving him a sense of power. However, the opposite action is taken to provide a

similar effect when Pop Doyle, Joey’s father, is introduced. He is framed with some other men

on the dock, but he is shot from below, presumably from Terry’s height, to make him appear

taller than the viewer, giving him an air of sternness and power as well. The same effect is used

with the introduction of Father Barry, a very powerful character throughout the film, which is

why he is also centered in frame in most of his appearances. He is often also portrayed alone in

frame, looking toward other characters off screen, adding to his aura of power and wisdom.

Father Barry is one of the most powerful characters in the film, as he is shot from below to

appear taller, stands up straight, framed in the direct center, and looks off camera as if he knows

something that the audience doesn’t.

However, not all characters are portrayed in the same light throughout the movie. Kazan

chooses to show Pop Doyle in a completely different light when he is in the same frame as his
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daughter, Edie. Within the story, Kazan wants to portray Edie as a very important character, but

not necessarily powerful. By introducing Pop as a powerful character, then showing him in a

weak situation, characterized by being off-center, posture leaning away from the center of the

frame, and looking up toward something larger than himself, Kazan makes Edie seem important

by having her be important but not powerful within the same frame, as she stands up straight,

looking intently at her father, but is still not seen as necessarily powerful because she isn’t

framed in the center.

Edie’s character is further developed in importance to Terry during their conversational

scene in the park. This scene is characterized by an eye-level camera height, repeating the

technique of helping the audience place their feet directly into the scene, helping stimulate

emotional empathy for Terry’s conflicting feelings for Edie, and by a lack of cuts. Throughout

the entire four-minute scene, Kazan doesn’t make a single cut, deciding to have the camera move

with the couple, which is extremely unusual for this film, as it is essentially the only time

throughout the entire movie when this occurs. To reinforce Edie’s importance, Kazan denies

Terry the center of frame position, rather electing to introduce some balance by having Terry and

Edie on either side of the frame.

Kazan uses the symmetrical power dynamic again with Terry, but this time when he is

conversing with his brother Charley Malloy in a car. This is one of the most iconic scenes of the

entire film, and is one of the most influential in Terry’s decision making process. Important

cinematic choices that Kazan makes include the direct line of eye contact between the two

brothers, the slight lean toward center that provides insight into both characters’ want for power

in the situation, but both are held back by the choice to have symmetry where neither character is

in the true center of the frame.

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In the final scenes, Terry and Johnny’s conflict comes to a climax. The power dynamic is

ever-shifting, with Terry originally having an upper hand. Terry’s posture is very straight, while

Johnny leans into the open doorway. Kazan also utilizes scale in a significant manner for the first

time since the beginning of the film, which is an open-close motif that can signal to the audience

that the film is about to reach its climax and eventual end, and shows Johnny’s tiny stature in

comparison to Terry, who at this point takes up about half of the frame. However, after the two

fight, the shot of Terry’s body is almost like an open-ended question from Kazan to the audience.

Terry’s body is centered, which generally could reference two different themes: one of peace and

rest, which could signify that this is the end for Terry; or one of power, which could signify that

Terry still has something in him to defy Johnny. Given that throughout the film, subject-

centering has been used to represent power in previously mentioned characters (Glover, Pop, and

Father Barry), it would make sense that Terry does have more fight in him.

While “On the Waterfront” may be an outdated film with production that pales in

comparison to modern cinema, Kazan’s use of various cinematic techniques in order to reinforce

themes throughout the film was groundbreaking and revolutionary. There are so many details

throughout the film that were not able to be explored in this essay, from shifting power dynamics

between the web of character interactions to changes in Terry’s mentality and decision-making.

While Elia Kazan’s allegory to his own experience with HUAC is painstakingly obvious, his

ability to tell a story using frame composition makes up for it completely.