With dark tones and a suffocating atmosphere, this film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marlon Brando, both at the height of their careers, has gone down in history as a masterpiece. It tells the story of Terry Malloy (Brando), a longshoreman who finds himself immersed in the shady affairs of a corrupt union. Terry is a much more complex man than he appears, his complacency hides enormous sadness and frustration. He can't help but be fascinated by Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint), the sister of a syndicate victim and the only ray of hope in his gray, soulless world. His love for Edie forces him to think about her surroundings and gives him the courage he needs to expose the criminals who run the pier as tyrants.
The law of silence as a cinematographic work it is magnificent, taken care of down to the last detail and with moving performances by the entire stellar cast. It is not surprising that in its time it was received with great enthusiasm by the public and the critics. It received 12 Academy Award nominations, of which it won 8, including best picture, best screenplay, best director and best actor. As a historical text it is much more problematic, since, as many point out, it appears to offer an attempt to justify the role played by its director (Kazan) and screenwriter (Budd Schulberg) as informants to the Committee on Un-American Activities.
Projection in original version (English) with subtitles in Spanish.
This film series aims to explore one of the most complex and convulsive times in the history of cinema: the witch hunt in Hollywood. In the late 40s and 50s, film producers, directors, screenwriters, actors, musicians, and critics became the targets of spectacular persecution by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The process, and the media circus that it entailed, profoundly affected the film industry and for years dictated how and who could work in Hollywood.
This selection of masterpieces, released between 1940 and 1960, offers us the opportunity to see in detail the evolution of the cinema of the great Hollywood studios, as well as delve into the turbulent sociopolitical climate in which they were shot and released.
1October 5: La Loba (The Little Foxes, 1941, William Wyler)
October 22: Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)
October 29: Laura (1944, Otto Preminger)
November 5: One Day in New York (On the Town, 1949, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)
November 12: The asphalt jungle (The Asphalt Jungle, 1950, John Huston)
November 19: Alone in the face of danger (High Noon, 1952, Fred Zinnemann)
November 26: Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler)
December 3: The law of silence (On the Waterfront, 1954, Elia Kazan)
December 10: Fugitives (The Defiant Ones, 1958, Stanley Kramer)
December 17: Spartacus (Spartacus, 1960, Stanley Kubrick)
Cycle curator: Sibley Labandeira