Notes

1. Use of very long takes: There two shots in this scene that last for quite a long time. A 30 second opening shot, and although a much shorter, still significant ten seconds that constitute Stanley creeping up toward Blanche at the end of the film. The initial scene's length largely imparts a lot of tension into the scene. The lack of cutting or quick edits gives us a viewers a heightened sense of what's going on, and allows us to see everything in explicit detail. In this context, the violence and manipulation that Stanley is perpetrating on Blanche adds a ton of dread and tension to the scene because we can so clearly see what's going on, and we can feel the agonizing buildup that leads to the crescendo ending of the scene.
2. Cutting back to Stanley's face after the bottle smashes: In a way this plays with our expectations, and then adds a lot of dread into the scene. When Blanche smashes the bottle, It ends a long scene of buildup, where Stanley is slowly moving toward Blanche. The music stings, and the crash blasts through the other minimal soundtracks, she holds it on him, during which Stanley actually flinches when it occurs. Which implies that he, like the audience, is shocked and mildly intimidated by the prospect of a deadly weapon entering into the picture. But we cut back at the perfect moment to see a reaction shot of Brando, a wolfish grin inhabiting his face, cool and confident in his fight against Blanche. This adds a layer of horror to the whole situation, as the only line of defense Blanche has is openly disdained by the character looking to perpetrate harm onto her.
3. Fade to black over the mirror.