Synopsis Of The Film 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

Streetcar Film Essay The playwright for “A Streetcar Named Desire” is one that many, including myself, believe is a shocking or edgy piece of work. In 1951 under the “Hayes Code”, it is reasonable to ask whether these set of rules “handcuff” the filmmakers during that time, in making A Streetcar Named Desire film. Considering the edgy source material, one could worry whether the themes and characters would be diluted in an attempt comprise towards the code. In my opinion this is thankfully not the case in regards to this specific film.

To start, I feel as if the major themes of the story are presented in the film and for the most part remain intact. Probably the biggest theme in the book is one of human desires and how those emotions
One of the first things she is shown to do in the movie is drink and as we know from the book she doesn’t like people knowing she has this problem. The drinking was not allowed to be excessive so they showed a few scenes with her drinking but the main tool they used was dialogue to show her problem. Comments made for Blache stating she barely touches alcohol is immediately contradicting to the audience as we just saw her drinking. Also Mitch quotes Stanley, saying that she is drinking all his liquor, Blanches alcoholism is not shown visually abundant but the dialogue certainly builds this aspect into her character. Another huge desire Blanche has is her flirtatious nature and urge to find a man that could fill the loss of her husband. One of the first examples of this is when she flirts with Stanley and even tells her sister that she did. Also they show her intimate moment with the “young man” exactly how it was written in the play. Stanley also mentions to Stella, Blanche's history with the Purple Flamengo and the relationship with the 17 year old boy. Both of these examples are vital to her character showing her background and why she is in New Orleans, also stating her position as far as her desires go. There are some other moments that were cut from the film which depict this desire but the fact is we are given enough as the audience to know her character with the
Although this is true in some aspect, I feel as if though those elements were just extra layering given to each character that couldn’t be added due to their upfront nature but those character elements are not dismissed as a whole. The audience is shown or alluded to these elements and are present in the film just not as sexualized and vulgar. A major change of the story happened at the end of the film where the filmmakers deviate from the source material. In the play Stanley ends up “victorious” with Blache being taken away but in the movie Blanche still leaves but Stella gets mad at Stanley and leaves to Eunices with the baby saying she won’t go back. Granted this is a huge change but the ending was just a conclusion and not a major theme, Stanley still kinda “wins” this persona match with Blanche, as she still goes crazy. However the end change doesn’t change the character of Stanley because he is still the womanizing jerk that he is in the