Marlon Brando
Posted: April 29th, 2007, 10:50 am
A glowing review from the Orlando Sentinel in Florida of the Marlon Brando Documentary:
Hal Boedeker | Sentinel Television Critic
Posted April 29, 2007
A new profile of actor Marlon Brando is -- with apologies to Tennessee Williams -- stellar, stellar.
Brando examines this iconic actor, impassioned activist and conflicted man. The documentary explains why Brando, who died in 2004, inspires such complicated feelings. He was brilliant and difficult, innovative and greedy, playful and tragic. He was never one way, and neither is this thoughtful profile.
This two-part, three-hour program, which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday on TCM, restores humanity to his legend. All movie stars should be so lucky.
This profile will be indispensable to movie fans. "He is the marker," director Martin Scorsese says. "There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando.' "
Part 2 is mandatory for anyone who loves The Godfather, the 1972 mob drama. Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan discuss pivotal scenes. The profile shares Brando's knockout test for Don Corleone, the role that brought him a second best-actor Oscar.
In the program, Sacheen Littlefeather tells how she declined that prize on his behalf and delivered his condemnation of Hollywood's treatment of American Indians. She says John Wayne was so angry that he had to be restrained.
The segment on Last Tango in Paris, a 1973 drama, is equally fascinating. In a 1977 interview, Brando says, "I never could figure out what that movie was about."
Director Bernardo Bertolucci wanted authenticity from Brando in playing a widower. The actor delivered, especially in a ferocious monologue directed at the corpse of his character's suicidal spouse. Bertolucci says the movie shocked Brando and caused a rift between them for years.
Brando never again matched that career peak. His dismissive behavior toward acting divides his colleagues. "This was not a dedicated actor who was going to work his craft," Jane Fonda says. "This man who brought so much joy to the rest of us, consummate actor, never enjoyed it."
Johnny Depp says Brando didn't care all that much, but concludes: "He's the god, and he would kill me for saying that."
Part 1 studies Brando's seminal collaborations with director Elia Kazan on A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. Martin Landau notes that Brando was nothing like brutish Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar.
Kazan liked Brando's turmoil, ambivalence and passion. Those qualities were all on display in 1954's On the Waterfront, which brought Brando his first best-actor Oscar. Brando recalls his shame at collecting that prize.
He grew increasingly difficult on sets, and Brando's disastrous 1962 remake of Mutiny on the Bounty poisoned Hollywood against him.
"He could eviscerate you," says George Englund, a friend who directed him in 1963's The Ugly American.
The actor was the child of an alcoholic mother and an overbearing father. The profile suggests those beginnings shaped him. He had a reputation for breaking women's hearts and clashing with directors, who serve as father figures on sets.
The program touches on family tragedies that devastated the actor. But in this balanced profile, his children and grandchildren testify to his humor.
The profile contains many fascinating nuggets. Edward R. Murrow conducted a revealing interview with Brando in 1955. Brando and Montgomery Clift clowned in a home movie. Brando went into a sexy dance during a UNICEF gala in 1967. Praising Brando in vintage clips are John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, who says, "I adore Marlon."
It's a shame that director Francis Ford Coppola didn't weigh in on The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Other missing voices include Eva Marie Saint, Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Nicholson.
Still, wonderful lore fills Brando. Scorsese reveals that the inspiration for Robert De Niro's "you talkin' to me?" in Taxi Driver came from Brando talking to himself in a mirror in Reflections in a Golden Eye.
However Brando felt about acting, he left an indelible contribution. The documentary Brando puts that legacy in thrilling perspective.
Reviewing key: ***** excellent,
Hal Boedeker | Sentinel Television Critic
Posted April 29, 2007
A new profile of actor Marlon Brando is -- with apologies to Tennessee Williams -- stellar, stellar.
Brando examines this iconic actor, impassioned activist and conflicted man. The documentary explains why Brando, who died in 2004, inspires such complicated feelings. He was brilliant and difficult, innovative and greedy, playful and tragic. He was never one way, and neither is this thoughtful profile.
This two-part, three-hour program, which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday on TCM, restores humanity to his legend. All movie stars should be so lucky.
This profile will be indispensable to movie fans. "He is the marker," director Martin Scorsese says. "There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando.' "
Part 2 is mandatory for anyone who loves The Godfather, the 1972 mob drama. Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan discuss pivotal scenes. The profile shares Brando's knockout test for Don Corleone, the role that brought him a second best-actor Oscar.
In the program, Sacheen Littlefeather tells how she declined that prize on his behalf and delivered his condemnation of Hollywood's treatment of American Indians. She says John Wayne was so angry that he had to be restrained.
The segment on Last Tango in Paris, a 1973 drama, is equally fascinating. In a 1977 interview, Brando says, "I never could figure out what that movie was about."
Director Bernardo Bertolucci wanted authenticity from Brando in playing a widower. The actor delivered, especially in a ferocious monologue directed at the corpse of his character's suicidal spouse. Bertolucci says the movie shocked Brando and caused a rift between them for years.
Brando never again matched that career peak. His dismissive behavior toward acting divides his colleagues. "This was not a dedicated actor who was going to work his craft," Jane Fonda says. "This man who brought so much joy to the rest of us, consummate actor, never enjoyed it."
Johnny Depp says Brando didn't care all that much, but concludes: "He's the god, and he would kill me for saying that."
Part 1 studies Brando's seminal collaborations with director Elia Kazan on A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. Martin Landau notes that Brando was nothing like brutish Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar.
Kazan liked Brando's turmoil, ambivalence and passion. Those qualities were all on display in 1954's On the Waterfront, which brought Brando his first best-actor Oscar. Brando recalls his shame at collecting that prize.
He grew increasingly difficult on sets, and Brando's disastrous 1962 remake of Mutiny on the Bounty poisoned Hollywood against him.
"He could eviscerate you," says George Englund, a friend who directed him in 1963's The Ugly American.
The actor was the child of an alcoholic mother and an overbearing father. The profile suggests those beginnings shaped him. He had a reputation for breaking women's hearts and clashing with directors, who serve as father figures on sets.
The program touches on family tragedies that devastated the actor. But in this balanced profile, his children and grandchildren testify to his humor.
The profile contains many fascinating nuggets. Edward R. Murrow conducted a revealing interview with Brando in 1955. Brando and Montgomery Clift clowned in a home movie. Brando went into a sexy dance during a UNICEF gala in 1967. Praising Brando in vintage clips are John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, who says, "I adore Marlon."
It's a shame that director Francis Ford Coppola didn't weigh in on The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Other missing voices include Eva Marie Saint, Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Nicholson.
Still, wonderful lore fills Brando. Scorsese reveals that the inspiration for Robert De Niro's "you talkin' to me?" in Taxi Driver came from Brando talking to himself in a mirror in Reflections in a Golden Eye.
However Brando felt about acting, he left an indelible contribution. The documentary Brando puts that legacy in thrilling perspective.
Reviewing key: ***** excellent,