Thursday, August 23, 2007

Walter E. Kurtz, the man who had to be terminated with extreme prejudice because he had made a friend of horror, because he described a US ARMY Officer as an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill. The man who described the world around as - the horror, the horror.

The world was apocalypse now and the man who played the renegade Col. Kurtz was MARLON BRANDO.


this performance more than any other (with the possible exception of Missouri Breaks) is the performance which most divides viewers, some call it great, others describe it a ham job.


i personally feel that it was the high point of a remarkable film and how Brando dint win every award that there was baffles me.


Only Brando could have been the mythical Kurtz. No one before him or after him could play that role. The force of nature that Brando was, he just had to be on screen and it would crackle with magic. He made the whole journey mesmeric, and even though he came in only in the last half hour, his presence was evident from the time his voice was played on the recorder while briefing martin sheen's character.


The Brando scenes were sheer poetry and all the chaos that was happening behind the camera, proves that sometimes conflict is required to create works of sublime beauty.


Brando was a class act in the film and truly the star of this classic film. And having any other opinion, is - aptly described by Kurtz himself - u have a right to kill me, but not to judge me.

4 comments:

kb said...

isn't this brando fellow a very poor role model given his lack of morals and shoddy personal life? i c u talk a lot about his movies but what about his irresponsible personal behaviour? y have u conveniently ignored all that? doesn't that make him the man that he is?

KBR said...

well, will be breaking a rule that i set myself.
brando was a human being, he had his failings as do the rest of us, he was good to some people and bad to some, like u and me.
not to mention his stand for various causes he took up, right from the black movement in the 60s (he was standing behind Dr. King when he made - I have a dream speech), american indian, aparthied etc. he did a lot of good in his capacity as a movie star. He didnt talk about and those who care about him, they know. the rest can continue to hold on to their false beliefs, no skin of my back.
cheers

Anonymous said...

A new blog! It was time. I like this one in particular --and agree with your comments. Brando the man was who made Brando the actor the only god of acting that there has ever been, and will be. Just thinking of the other chances Coppola considered to play Kurtz, not even Nicholson could have given the bigger-than-life, utterly dark character its due. And who else, from Streetcar to Godfather, could have made his presence so vital to each and every movie by simply dissapearing for half the time even. Of course, in Apocalypse this magical thing is taken to the next, last level. Genius.

Anonymous said...

another good one, kbr. i thought he was great in it, of course.

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About Me

anything which i can do by not getting up from my back side, is to my liking. hard work never killed anybody, but there is always a first time for everything. SO CHILL is my motto.