movable walls

It has been discussed in a few occasions, probably in this blog why Gone With The Wind is one of my favorite movies. It’s an extremely long film and for a chick flick, Rhett Butler surely knows how to break hearts. But the alluring charm and beauty of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara endures through generations. Despite all the accolades that came with success in both motion pictures and the stage, she was a wreck psychologically, stricken with bipolar disorder that she suffered in private for most of her life. Her other Academy Award winning role is her performance as Blanche Dubois in Tennesse Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) directed by Elia Kazan and co-starring Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski.

Leigh as Blanche is riveting. Originating the role at West End’s stage production which was directed by Laurence Olivier, her transformation of the character into film accommodates a more vivid picture of Blanche’s nuances and expressions. It’s an extremely challenging role, requiring elements of haunting depth to convey the profound distress of a declining southern belle. Gifted with expressive eyes, exquisitely formed visage and a pliant spirit, Leigh’s Blanche is the benchmark for all past and present Blanches whether on stage and television. Brando as Kowalski is all the more brutal and remorseless as it was brought to life by a young Brando himself. The other actors in the film with Kim Hunter as Stella and Karl Malden as Mitch channel the sleazy and graphic components of the New Orleans slum.

I usually have trouble interpreting shadows and gradations in black and white, but the film is all the more intense and resplendent with the gray interpretation of squalor, penury and breakdown.