Kazan wanted his directing in On the Waterfront to
be invisible so that the actors’ performances could be the focus
of the film. Kazan and Polish-born, New York–based cinematographer
Boris Kaufman eschew flashy camerawork and avoid employing extreme angles,
intense close-ups, and overt camera movements. Instead, the actors
often appear in two-shot (two people at midrange) or in wider shots
to show the arrangements of characters. Kazan and Kaufman use the
positioning of characters within a frame to suggest a power dynamic.
For example, at the end of the film, when Terry Malloy runs down
the ramp that connects the dock to the Longshoreman’s Local Union
shack, he stands literally between both camps, hanging in thin air.
Johnny Friendly sits below him, as if in a netherworld, emerging
from a shack floating on the water. The longshoremen stand as a
unified mass on the solid ground of land. Malloy is literally and
symbolically in between. Kazan and Kaufman also use suggestive framing
when Father Barry is hoisted out of the hold with Dugan’s corpse
on the palette. In their unmoving, reverent pose, rising above all
the men around them, Father Barry seems to be riding with Dugan
straight into heaven as a reward for speaking his mind.
There are some moments, however, when the direction begs
to be noticed and discussed. The most important incidence of style
taking precedence over content is when Malloy confesses to Edie
his involvement in her brother’s death. Instead of letting the viewer
hear this crucial conversation, Kazan allows the noise of a nearby
ship’s whistle to overwhelm the voices, and only a few of Malloy’s
words can be heard. Kazan uses this impressionistic rendering to
suggest the depth of feeling and the frenzy of confused emotions
underpinning the conversation. Because the feelings are more important
than the actual words spoken, the scene’s impact is more powerful
than the impact a literal rendering would have provided. The ship’s
whistle and a pounding machine overwhelm Malloy’s confession, emphasizing
the weight his words have on Edie. She clutches her face and ears
as if resisting the world around her, then flees. She leaves Malloy
alone on a pile of rocks with the Empire State Building visible
in the background through the fog, representing a distant dream
and an idealized way of life. Scenes like this are rare, however,
and Kazan usually allows his actors to work in an uncomplicated
frame.
Kazan encouraged his actors to use a lot of physical
touch, which was a significant directing development. Not all the
touching is erotic—some is merely friendly or intimate. Goons and
longshoremen push each other around in friendly games. Charlie and
Terry sit practically on top of each other in the taxicab scene.
Charlie and Edie touch often in the saloon with arm-taps and caresses.
Father Barry touches almost everyone he comes into contact with.
Even Johnny Friendly hugs and lifts Terry in their first scene at
the bar. Touching emphasizes the crowded environment, but it also
affirms the intimacy of all these relationships. In a stage production,
where characters might stand a few feet apart from each other as
they speak, creating naturalistic emotions is a challenge. But in
Kazan’s world, people use their bodies. They bump into each other,
shake hands, hug, tap each other to demonstrate points, horse around—they
generally feel real to the viewer.
Kazan creates some of the most subtle moments of direction
ever to hit the screen. In the first shot of the film, an enormous
cruise ship fills the frame, lodged at the docks. From a grungy
little shack in a small corner of the frame, Johnny Friendly marches
out with all his men, followed by Terry Malloy. A very small group
is running a large area, a contrast that the frame emphasizes. Additionally, Terry’s
“confession” to Father Barry takes place outside of the church.
Even though Terry wants to talk to Father Barry inside the church,
the machinations of the plot draw them outside to the waterfront.
This location shades the scene: Terry’s confession, Kazan is saying,
is not a religious one. Merely speaking will not absolve Terry of
any sins, and only action will alleviate his guilt. Father Barry
is not a Catholic mentor to Terry but a mentor of the soul. The
waterfront becomes a living, breathing part of his confession.
