Menu Bar
Apocalypse Now: Marlon Brando Finale
Needs Plugin: Flash |
Not Working?
Retweet This
Share on Facebook
Email This
Acting Lessons 101 - Marlon Brando, one of the greatest actors of the last half century, and some say THE greatest, portrayed Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. In the film, he is a highly decorated officer who went mad, killed many, and shacked up in Cambodia, miles from where the action was in Vietnam.
Martin Sheen plays Capt. Willard who is sent to kill him. Sheen's trip up river to find him occupies most of the film. Brando is only in it for the last 45 mins or so.
This is his final monologue in the film, describing "The Horror".
Simply brilliant acting. His expressions are as sharp as can be.
Allegedly, he was told he could improvise the description of the story he tells Willard of what he had seen at the camp they had to go for innoculation of children, so, thats pretty wild for him to make up what he did as he went along. Truly a great actor.
Martin Sheen plays Capt. Willard who is sent to kill him. Sheen's trip up river to find him occupies most of the film. Brando is only in it for the last 45 mins or so.
This is his final monologue in the film, describing "The Horror".
Simply brilliant acting. His expressions are as sharp as can be.
Allegedly, he was told he could improvise the description of the story he tells Willard of what he had seen at the camp they had to go for innoculation of children, so, thats pretty wild for him to make up what he did as he went along. Truly a great actor.
Jun 10, 2009 3:59 AM
Re: Apocalypse Now: Marlon Brando Finale
Acting Lessons 101? Yeah. I suppose as part of the section How Not To Act. Brando would have benefitted from some rudimentary acting lessons before he flew off to the Philippines. It may have prevented him from being a lazy apathetic spoiled slob. Perhaps a refresher course on Preparing For Your Role with a special focus on How To Learn Your Lines.
The credit for the resonating power of Kurtz more properly rests with Coppola who took Brando's shit and polished it into shinola, and Dennis Hopper (another jackass who didn't learn his lines and therefore had to improvise - but at least Hopper improvises well).
Coppola was over a barrel in that he couldn't do what he should have done on principle (i.e. fire the overpaid Brando and hire an actor who was ready to do the job). Stuck with Brando, Coppola created a context in which Mushmouth's incoherence made sense. The fractured Kurtz persona is a result of the improvisational genius of the director. This clip
reveals an actor who can barely put together a sentence and is incapable of - or worse, not interested in - improvising with another actor.
Dennis Hopper's performance on the other hand generously paints the picture of Kurtz well before we see the pre-incarnation of Jabba The Hutt waddling around and mumbling like a drunk. Sure, Hopper was high as a kite and tripping in the atmosphere but he is engaged! He is listening. His energy is focussed on something larger than himself. It is Hopper's commitment to the story and legend of Kurtz that allows the Million Dollar Man to screw the pooch so atrociously later in the film.
Just because Brando was sometimes great, doesn't mean he was always great (Island of Dr. Moreau).
Terry Malloy - genius.
Stanley Kowalski - genius
Don Corleone - genius
Kurtz - actor who forgot the way.
The credit for the resonating power of Kurtz more properly rests with Coppola who took Brando's shit and polished it into shinola, and Dennis Hopper (another jackass who didn't learn his lines and therefore had to improvise - but at least Hopper improvises well).
Coppola was over a barrel in that he couldn't do what he should have done on principle (i.e. fire the overpaid Brando and hire an actor who was ready to do the job). Stuck with Brando, Coppola created a context in which Mushmouth's incoherence made sense. The fractured Kurtz persona is a result of the improvisational genius of the director. This clip
reveals an actor who can barely put together a sentence and is incapable of - or worse, not interested in - improvising with another actor.
Dennis Hopper's performance on the other hand generously paints the picture of Kurtz well before we see the pre-incarnation of Jabba The Hutt waddling around and mumbling like a drunk. Sure, Hopper was high as a kite and tripping in the atmosphere but he is engaged! He is listening. His energy is focussed on something larger than himself. It is Hopper's commitment to the story and legend of Kurtz that allows the Million Dollar Man to screw the pooch so atrociously later in the film.
Just because Brando was sometimes great, doesn't mean he was always great (Island of Dr. Moreau).
Terry Malloy - genius.
Stanley Kowalski - genius
Don Corleone - genius
Kurtz - actor who forgot the way.
By: spirot
