Cheap A Streetcar Named Desire (Original Director's Version) (DVD) (Elia Kazan) Price

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Customer Reviews of A Streetcar Named Desire (Original Director's Version)

Love on the rocks.
Without putting the adaptation into historical context, (because I haven't researched the movie's history or the play itself), I have to say A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the most realistic and honest acted (by all involved) films around. Brando himself seems to disappear into the role of the down-to-earth Stanley. Stanley and Stella make the quintessential Orleanian couple, for their time, as they live foot-loose but deeply in love with each other, and they know each of the other is the only one for them. They quarrel now & again but the fights are usually either rooted in fun or serve as foreplay. Things change for them when Stella's hoity-toity sister Blanche shows herself and begins living with the couple. Stanley clearly doesn't enjoy Blanche's elitist attitude and how it's beginning to rub off on Stella; or maybe more precisely awaken Stella as she may have been before her time with Stanely. It would be interesting to know the time when Stanley and Stella met. I can imagine Stella being just as aggrivated if one of Stanley's relatives suddenly began staying in the apartment with no prospects and no plan to leave anytime soon, but in this case, Stanley is at his wits end when Blanche's story (of the past several years before showing up) doesn't check out and Stanley exposes Blanche's past. Let's just say it's a sorted past and whatever the road she traveled to get to the point where she hopped from hotel to motel, depending on the kindness of strangers , she's a bit used and a little lost in the mind to say the least. We do know some of her story about Stella leaving Blanche in a troubled situation at home as kids for New Orleans, but it comes off as patronizing Stella and more than a little selfish...the very thing Blanche believes of Stella! As a matter of fact, I can identify with Stella somewhat in that respect. Blanche meets a would-be gentleman and the entire situation blows up in many areas; with Stella & Stanley, Stella & Blanche, Stanley & Mitch, Blanche & Mitch...it's a regular royal rumble of sorts. Throw in some card playing buddies and a close-knit, cheeky neighborhood and 'Streetcar' stands as maybe the best adaptation from a play out there (with Glengarry Glen Ross way up there also). <
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A Sultry Masterpiece For The Ages
*WARNING: May contain spoilers.* <
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>A Streetcar Named Desire is a fascinating film for a lot of reasons. It's very difficult for me to compose my thoughts on this film, as there are just so many things happening on so many different levels. <
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>I suppose I'll begin with the element that really makes the film what it is: the one and only Elia Kazan. For some reason these days, Kazan's films seem to get labeled as outdated and heavy-handed. I can understand why one might think that about Boomerang! or Gentleman's Agreement (though I think those are both very good films, especially the latter), but there is certainly nothing outdated or heavy-handed about A Streetcar Named Desire. It is one of the subtlest and most well crafted films I have ever seen. <
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>The story concerns aging southern belle Blanche DuBois (Leigh), who moves to New Orleans to stay with her younger sister Stella (Hunter) and finds a culture clash at every corner, especially with Stella's "unrefined" husband Stanley, who is played by a very sexy Marlon Brando. <
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>It is extraordinarily interesting to see the juxtaposition between Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando. Leigh is an old-fashioned, classical actress of the highest order, charming the audience with her sunny disposition and perky smile, though she definitely has a dark side. Then we have Brando, a young, up-and-coming user of the rising art of method acting. It is one of the most interesting on-screen interactions one is likely to see. <
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>What is also very interesting is watching Blanche's slow spiral into insanity. All of the elegance and wealth she grew up in is gone, and she has done unthinkable things to survive. Now she is stuck in a New Orleans slum with a sweaty simpleton yelling at her. Pair that with the tormenting suicide of a past lover, and you have a recipe for madness. <
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>Being based on a Tennessee Williams play, the film takes place in essentially one location, that being Stella and Stanley's apartment, but Kazan utilizes the New Orleans locale to perfection, and the combination of his direction, the gorgeous, glowing black and white cinematography, and Alex North's sultry, jazzy score gives the film a consistently surreal, almost dreamlike atmosphere. <
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>But more notably, the New Orleans atmosphere gives Kazan the perfect opportunity to play with the story's sensual aspects, and he occasionally even delves into pure primal sexuality, such as in the famous "Stella!" scene. The film is so subtly steamy and wrought with sexual tension that it pushed the boundaries of censorship back in its day. This also may be due to the fact that it alludes to some very controversial subjects. This is another point at which the film's subtlety becomes a marvel of cinematic engineering. Was Blanche's lover homosexual? Did Stanley rape Blanche? There are no solid answers to these questions - it is left for the viewer to decide. <
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>But as I first mentioned, the real virtuoso behind this film is Elia Kazan. Some people may still be upset over his actions during the Red Scare, but it is undeniable that he made some extremely good films. A Streetcar Named Desire is one of his absolute finest masterpieces. It was very much ahead of its time, and it remains one of the most intense, subtle, and well-made dramas in the history of film.

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a pretentiously dramatized yet sad story
this is a sad story about all the low lives in new orlean. the setting of this movie itself does not look far from a staged play. characters also exaggerated like what we used to see on the stage, but all the castings were good, performed well. lost souls, bullies, wimps, psychos, all the possible low lives you could find in the back streets of a hot, humid, rundown red neck neighborhood. lota of scenes and dialogue are nothing but pretentiously exaggerated and staged, bearable to hang on to keep watching along with the good performances almost all the characters. if you could treat it a play and look at it as play, it's a good one. but if you know how to separate it from a play, watching it as a movie should be, then it's not great at all.