English Literature - Ladies' College, Sri Lanka

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Streetcar production without Marlon Brando

Streetcar clips

Some good clips from the movie. Pay attention to stage directions, where characters stand and how they look.

This is quite interesting. He starts smashing up the plates, but notice his tone of voice - is he shouting? He doesn't need to. He's speaking quite calmly, given that he's obviously furious. It shows how much attention he demands with just his actions. Again, that's animalistic - animals cannot talk so they communicate through sounds and their actions, like Stanley in this snippet.

Resist the urge...

Don't rely on the kindness of strangers...

Well said, Mr. Wilde, well said...

Saturday, March 30, 2013

My Favourite Movie

My favourite movie, of all time, hands down and hand on my heart is Gone with the Wind. That aside, I want you to really understand the whole 'Belle Reve' and the idea that Stella and Blanche are better than immigrants. It's weird because Vivian Leigh, who plays the main character, Scarlet, in Gone with the Wind, also plays Blanche.

This is Tara before the Civil War. Look at how lovely and big and picturesque it is. This is kind of what Belle Reve would have looked like - you can see why Stanley would want it so badly, and why in losing it, Blanche has lost her identity - like Scarlet, here, in Gone with the Wind.

This is Tara after the Civil War - not so nice any more, is it?

Check out this video too - it shows how magnificent the South was - this 'old South' that Blanche desperately wants to cling on to

This is also a really good book to read. It's called Reinventing the South and has a chapter on Streetcar from page 161. It's a google book so some of it has been cut out but try and read it. It makes some really good points and expands your knowledge :)

http://books.google.lk/books?id=dQYzohelTwEC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=tara+and+belle+reve&source=bl&ots=jwU-DQbeVN&sig=LeZm31NjSCDbRMyKAEvTouUSCec&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lKpWUejUMIjJswbW3oD4Aw&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=tara%20and%20belle%20reve&f=false