On the Waterfront (1954)

Director: Elia Kazan
Country: United States

Elia Kazan's big hit, starred by Marlon Brando at his best as Terry Malloy is unbelievable, it's simply perfect, since the beggining 'til the end, it has a beautiful pace and development of the characters and every single shot and diologue is always important and entertaining. 

 

The supporting cast is awesome too, Rod Steiger made a great performance as "Charlie" (Terry's villain brother), and along with Brando built one of the most powerful and heartbreaking scenes in the history of cinema: "The Cab Scene", which is the highest point of the movie and influenced and inspired future super star actors like Al Pacino and James Gandolfini, also Lee J. Cobb did a very solid performance as "Johnny Friendly".

 

The soundtrack by Leonard Bernstein is impressive as well, and the cinematography by Boris Kaufman is a key factor with a lot of interestings and realistic shots of the faces and bodies of the longshoremen and point of view angles that allow the audience to sympathize with Terry Malloy, not to mention the cold atmosphere on the locations and the monocromatic black and white adds a very special touch. This is an unforgettable and quintessential New Yorker film. 

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