BRANDOFAN's 10 best BRANDO films -
On the Waterfront (1954) - Jack Nicholson describes it as the height of any age. Winner of 8 Oscars. Brando's greatest performance, according to the director of the movie ELIA KAZAN, the greatest performance by an American actor ever. Most famous for the TAXI CAB scene and the "I coulda been a contender speech". Inspired countless movies, closer home - Deewar (the dock sequences), Parinda and the frame to frame copy GHULAM. A dock worker develops a conscience and fights the waterfront mafia. An all time classic.
The Godfather (1972) - Arguable the greatest movie ever made. U have to be living on Pluto if u have not seen it. Brando was in it for 45 minutes but his presence dominates the narrative throughout the 3 hour film....I' ll make him an offer he cant refuse, you can act like a man, Tell your don what everyone seems to know, this war stops now, I am a superstitious man, nothing personal just business, don’t ever go against the family... the list of the immortal lines is endless.
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - Swept the Oscars, everyone of the main performers won the golden boy, but Brando lost out to BOGART. The most impactful performance in the history of film went unrewarded at the Oscars. A southern drama based on Tenessee Williams Pulitzer prize winning play first introduced Brando to the world on Broadway in 1947, ran for 2 years and then the movie happened. 1951 is the year when a common phrase entered the world of cinema - Before Brando and After Brando. As a loutish Stanley Kowalski, Brando kept everyone riveted and infact took some of the sympathy away that the viewer must have felt for Blanche Duboise (Vivien Leigh).
Stellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, scorched itself into our everyday lives.
Last Tango in Paris (1973) - One half of the greatest comeback's 1-2 punch. A performance that was autobiographical. So real that it made audiences cringe. A middle aged ex pat in Paris, begins a sexual affair with a 19 year old French actress. Nameless sex, raw primal, with the famous/infamous butter sequence. The film was a harrowing portrayal of a man breaking down in front of our very eyes. One of the most beautiful movies to look at, all the scenes look like a painting. Bernado Bertolucci outdid himself as a director
Apocalypse Now (1979) / Redux (2001)
Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkeness, this is ride which haunts you for ever. As Francis Ford Coppola put it, this movie is not about Vietnam, it is Vietnam. Brando is there only in the last 15 minutes of the film, but his presence dominates right from the beginning when his voice is played on the recorder. Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent on a mission to terminate a renegade Col. Kurtz’s command with extreme prejudice. Kurtz has gone solo, rockers, is running his own private war. Brando’s trance like performance is brilliant and each word, look, move is epochal. Blows you away completely.
The Freshman (1990) - Already have a post on it, one of the all time great comedies. Period.
Julius Caesar (1953) - Brando as Marc Antony, this is Shakespeare at its most exciting. Brilliant cast with James Mason as Brutus, Sir John Gielgud as Cassisus. Brando shines and how. The friends Romans countrymen scene is CLASS.
One-Eyed Jacks (1961) - The only movie Brando directed after he sacked Stanley Kubrick. A classic western revenge tail, which portrays characters as not all pristine white and jet black, but in shades of grey. Beautifully filmed, brilliantly acted, did respectable business at the box office but because it was so expensive (courtesy an inexperienced Director Brando), could not be termed an outright hit. A mature western where the spoken word counts for more than the bullet. Has one of the most brutal beatings on screen ever, where Brando gets tied up and is whipped by Karl Malden. On the Waterfront and THE CHASE are the other movies where Brando is beaten to pulp. A cult film today and a great one at that. Brando's original cut was 5 hours long and those who have seen it, say it was sheer art. The studio took over the film and the editing and Brando dismissed the film completely.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) - Brando at the height of his stardom, took this movie after refusing David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. The movie where he was unfairly blamed for everything. Brando had his share of mood swings but the studios were to blame for the long production schedule which went on and on. Talking about he movie, a remake of the GABLE, Laughton - Mutiny on the Bounty. Brando is exquisite, excellent as a foppish Fletcher Christian and is very funny and brilliant. The movie has been criticized unjustly, as according to me it is the best of the bounty movies. Trevor Howard as the tyrannical Captain Bligh and an upcoming Richard Harris, make up the cast. Was nominated for Best Picture Oscar, dint win it. Flopped badly and Brando's bad luck at the box office began.
The Young Lions (1958) - A WWII movie told from both sides of the war. Brando plays a NAZI who realizes that his ideal GERMANY has messed up. Montgomery Clifyt as American Jew in the army and Dean Martin a draftee who wants to get out - form the American side of the story. The 2 sides never meet, till the climax but the movie is brilliant for the acting, the message. The Americans are fighting the NAZIS because they are anti Semite, but even then they cannot get rid of their own anti Semitic feelings towards Monty Clift's character. Brilliantly acted, and a huge box office hit.
