Line #13 Creator/EliaKazan


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/011_elia_kazan_theredlist.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320: ''"[[Film/OnTheWaterfront Conscience...that stuff can drive you nuts]]."'']]
3
4	-> ''"What's called a difficult decision is a difficult decision because [[ConflictingLoyalty either way you go]] there are penalties."''
5	-->-- '''Elia Kazan''', describing his situation as a "friendly witness" during the years of UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist.
6
7	Elia Kazan (born Elias Kazantzoglou; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
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9	Born in Constantinople (now UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}}) to Greek parents, Kazan immigrated with them to the United States in 1913. He grew up in New Rochelle, New York and attended Williams College, followed by the Yale School of Drama. Kazan became a pioneer in the performing arts as a director of several ambitious stage plays. He mounted the original productions of Creator/ArthurMiller's ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'' and Creator/TennesseeWilliams' ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' and ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof''. For ''Streetcar'', he cast a young unknown actor named Creator/MarlonBrando, a decision that revolutionized acting forever. He is one of the founders of the Actors Studio, and could easily be credited with helping to define film acting as its own unique craft.
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11	In movies, he directed Brando in the film adaptation of ''Streetcar'', as well as ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' (for which he won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Director and created a true Hollywood classic) and ''Viva Zapata!''. He also directed Creator/JamesDean in ''Film/EastOfEden'' (though he personally didn't like Dean) and in his last film, he directed Creator/RobertDeNiro in ''The Last Tycoon''. The performing arts, and modern American cinema as we come to understand it, was more or less [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified]] by Kazan, whose [[ToughActToFollow influence has been inescapable]].
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13	Such an impressive body of work, however, rests side-by-side with his most controversial action, which has in some circles become proverbial. He served as a "friendly witness" [[UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist for the House Committee for Un-American Activities]] at the height of the RedScare. He initially testified admitting to being a former communist in the '30s but he refused to "name names". He subsequently did do so, when placed under pressure. This made him PersonaNonGrata among many of his former leftist friends for whom Kazan could NeverLiveItDown. Kazan was not the only major artist to "name names", almost everyone did, but unlike others, he refused to apologize for his action, even putting out an ad in the newspapers justifying this decision and asking others to come forward. Not long after he made this decision, he made ''On the Waterfront'', a film that has at times, been read as an allegory for his own struggles, something that Kazan [[FlipFlopOfGod has both admitted to and wavered]][[note]]As Kazan noted, his involvement with the pre-production of that film preceded his testimony and most of the film was based on real-life incidents on the docks and the union corruption there, which had nothing in common with his situation[[/note]]. Kazan defended his actions by pointing out that while he may have named names, he only gave useless names to the Committee, the ones who would have been blacklisted anyway, and the CPUSA's strategy against [=McCarthyism=] was poorly conceived and exploitative of artists for the benefit of a political ideology that had become a mask [[DirtyCommunists for hypocrisy]] by TheForties and TheFifties. Critics rebuked him by pointing out that by taking the public stance he did, as a prominent liberal and public intellectual, he legitimized the HUAC's pretensions of being a sincere anti-communist crusade rather than a right-wing committee that trampled on civil liberties. Nearly half a century removed from the HUAC hearings, there were protests outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion during the ceremony where Kazan won an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. Many in attendance refused to stand and applaud.[[note]]The debate wasn't so much on whether Kazan deserved the award, artistically even his critics admitted that he was deserving. They merely pointed out that the AMPAS and Hollywood studios, in general, had never truly given a public apology or restitution for the careers it ended, and honoring Kazan ''before'' doing that seemed galling[[/note]]
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15	Despite this, one mustn't get the impression that Kazan became a simple anti-communist ideologue overnight. Kazan remained a liberal ''and'' a leftist and resented the Communists for monopolizing all kinds of opposition on social issues, which remained a constant interest for him. He identified himself as an anti-communist Leftist, an InternalReformist who sought to play a role in American culture by making many critical films in the '50s, and in the 60s. In addition to this, he supported the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement and other liberal causes, counting Creator/TennesseeWilliams and James Baldwin among his friends. As a director, Kazan was a trailblazer in pushing forth sexually suggestive and aggressive content to audiences, making films like ''Baby Doll'' as well as ''A Face in the Crowd'', a dark satire of media that anticipates films like ''Film/{{Network}}''. His influence on American cinema was phenomenal with even his [[WeUsedToBeFriends former friends]] admitting his [[WorthyOpponent great talent]]. He played a major role in ending censorship in American cinema, alongside the likes of Creator/OttoPreminger and Creator/BillyWilder. He was especially influential on the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood, Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and Creator/MartinScorsese especially. The former was initially going to cast him as Hyman Roth in ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII'' which eventually went to Lee Strasberg (famous acting teacher and rival) instead. The latter would in time befriend Kazan, and played a part in helping him receive his Honorary award, even personally presenting the award to him, alongside Creator/RobertDeNiro.
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17	In his later years, he found fame as a novelist and wrote an autobiography, ''Elia Kazan: A Life'' that was highly praised for its good writing and for its fairly honest look at a contentious personality.
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19	Kazan was married thrice. His second wife Barbara Loden was an actress (on ''Film/WildRiver'') whose lone directorial effort ''Film/{{Wanda}}'' is a great film in its own right. He has several children and grandchildren active in film production. (Creator/ZoeKazan is his granddaughter.). He died in 2003 but his legacy -- and controversy -- lives on.
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21	Do not confuse him with [[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution Eliza Cassan]].
22	----
23	!!Films directed by Elia Kazan include:
24	[[index]]
25	* ''Literature/ATreeGrowsInBrooklyn'' (1945)
26	* ''[[Film/Boomerang1947 Boomerang!]]'' (1947)
27	* ''Film/GentlemansAgreement'' (1947)
28	* ''Film/PanicInTheStreets'' (1950)
29	* ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' (1951)
30	* ''Film/VivaZapata'' (1952)
31	* ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' (1954)
32	* ''Literature/EastOfEden'' (1955)
33	* ''Film/BabyDoll'' (1956)
34	* ''Film/AFaceInTheCrowd'' (1957)
35	* ''Film/WildRiver'' (1960)
36	* ''Film/SplendorInTheGrass'' (1961)
37	* ''Film/AmericaAmerica'' (1963)
38	* ''Film/TheArrangement'' (1969)
39	[[/index]]
40	----
41	!!See also:
42
43	* ''Theatre/TheSkinOfOurTeeth'': 1942 UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning play by Creator/ThorntonWilder. Kazan directed the original Broadway production.
44
45	----
46	!! Provides Examples of tropes like:
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48	* AntiHero: Generally Types I-III, his movies featured characters who tend to be very unlikable and even villainous but eventually turn out to have something going for them. He introduced greater psychological complexity to American movies.
49	* ConflictingLoyalty: A theme in his life and his works. The conflict between duty, conscience, friendship, and family honor in a situation with no clear right or wrong.
50	* EnforcedMethodActing: Loved doing this to his actors, he antagonized the very friendly Andy Griffith during the filming of ''A Face in the Crowd'' in order to properly get what was needed for the role. He also supposedly had the main set of ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' gradually pulled in to enhance claustrophobia for the actors.
51	* GrayAndGrayMorality: Kazan never set truck by conventional ideas of ''good vs. evil'', even calling it monstrous.
52	* ImmigrantPatriotism: He felt this way towards America, and ''Film/AmericaAmerica'' is the story of his uncle's epic journey to America from Anatolia, the same uncle who later made it possible for his parents to emigrate there.
53	* MagnumOpusDissonance: Known today for ''Film/AStreetcarNamedDesire'', ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'', ''Film/EastOfEden'' and even ''Film/GentlemansAgreement'', his own favorites were ''Film/WildRiver'' and ''Film/AmericaAmerica''.
54	* TheMentor: To Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/JamesDean, Creator/WarrenBeatty, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/MartinScorsese, and many, many others. A major figure in the American artistic landscape.
55	* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: His protagonists eventually learn this and Kazan claimed to have learned this himself.
56	* TheatreIsTrueActing: He discusses the perceived superiority of stage acting in his autobiography, ''A Life''. He initially thought that stage actors needed to have technique and eloquence film actors did not, but then eventually came to think that screen acting was the more 'honest' of the two.

Context Creator / EliaKazan