Editing Elia Kazan (section)

===Topics of personal and social realism===
Kazan chose his subjects to express personal and social events that he was familiar with. He described his thought process before taking on a project:

{{blockquote|I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme. In some way the channel of the film should also be in my own life. I start with an instinct. With ''East of Eden''{{nbsp}}... it's really the story of my father and me, and I didn't realize it for a long time{{nbsp}}... In some subtle or not-so-subtle way, every film is autobiographical. A thing in my life is expressed by the essence of the film. Then I know it experientially, not just mentally. I've got to feel that it's in some way about me, some way about my struggles, some way about my pain, my hopes.<ref name=Stevens/>}}

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Kazan-Face-still.jpg|thumb|left|[[Andy Griffith]], in first film role, with [[Patricia Neal]], from ''A Face in the Crowd'' (1957) {{pufc|Kazan-Face-still.jpg|date=June 10, 2014}}]] -->
Film historian Joanna E. Rapf notes that among the methods Kazan used in his work with actors, was his initial focus on "reality", although his style was not defined as "naturalistic". She adds: "He respects his script, but casts and directs with a particular eye for expressive action and the use of emblematic objects."<ref name=Rapf>{{cite book |last=Rapf |first=Joanna E. |title=On the Waterfront |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003}}</ref>{{rp|33}} Kazan stated that "unless the character is somewhere in the actor himself, you shouldn't cast him."<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|33}} In his later years, he changed his mind about some of the philosophy behind the Group Theatre, in that he no longer felt that the theater was a "collective art", as he once believed:

{{blockquote|To be successful it should express the vision, the conviction, and the insistent presence of one person.<ref name="Rothstein"/>}}

Film author [[Peter Biskind]] described Kazan's career as "fully committed to art and politics, with the politics feeding the work".<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|22}} Kazan, however, has downplayed that impression:

{{blockquote|I don't think basically I'm a political animal. I think I'm a self-centered animal{{nbsp}}... I think what I was concerned about all my life was to say something artistically that was uniquely my own.<ref name=Rapf/>{{rp|22}}}}

Nonetheless, there have been clear messages in some of his films that involved politics in various ways. In 1954, he directed ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', written by screenwriter [[Budd Schulberg]], which was a film about union corruption in New York. Some critics consider it "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema".<ref name=Kazan1/> Another political film was ''[[A Face in the Crowd (film)|A Face in the Crowd]]'' (1957). His protagonist, played by [[Andy Griffith]] (in his film debut) is not a politician, yet his career suddenly becomes deeply involved in politics. According to film author Harry Keyishian, Kazan and screenwriter [[Budd Schulberg]] were using the film to warn audiences about the dangerous potential of the new medium of television. Kazan explains that he and Schulberg were trying to warn "of the power TV would have in the political life of the nation". Kazan states, "Listen to what the candidate says; don't be taken in by his charm or his trust-inspiring personality. Don't buy the advertisement; buy what's in the package."<ref>{{cite book |last=Keyishian |first=Harry |title=Screening Politics: The Politician in American Movies |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2003 |page=62}}</ref>