Watched this Brando classic on DVD.

Marlon Brando plays Terry Malloy, a boxer turned longshoreman and friend to the local union mobster boss. In a quick turn of events, he unknowingly assists in the murder of a fellow longshoreman and unionmember at the hands of his boss' men, falls for the murdered man's sister, and completely reassesses his life, ultimately turning against the mob.

I see the art in the film. I recognize the conflict and see the confrontation, but I don't quite get the resolution.

Brando finally testifies against the boss, adding to the allegations of murder, after his brother, a closer confidant to the mob boss, is murdered in his stead. After, instead of fleeing, Brando appears at the docks to work. All of the other longshoremen are picked to work, leaving Brando standing on the dock alone. Brando barely protests and is replaced with a bum huddled around a burning trash can.

He embraces his rage and shouts to the mob boss and his crew who are huddled in the nearby union house decrying the injustice of the court case. A fight ensues, during which Brando is severely beaten by the mobsters, and at which time the other longshoremen line the dock watching, but none help.

The customer, presumably with ships to load and unload, barks that he needs longshoremen. The mob boss tries to compell the men to get to work, but they steadfastly refuse.

In the end Brando struggles to his feet and without help (which, when offered, is pushed away by the priest played by Karl Malden), and fights to walk into the dockyard. The men cheer and join him.

What I don't understand is how is this a victory for Brando and the men? Just because they went in after him instead of without him? The customer wanted them in there, as did the mob boss. They went in; how does that mean the men won and the mobsters lost?

I liked it, and see the personal victory for Brando's character, but not the overall victory for the unionmembers.