By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stevan Riley
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2015
Running time: 95
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521134/combined
Kyle says: “To the mountains of writing about Marlon Brando, most famously by legendary film critic Pauline Kael, and most recently by New Yorker writer Richard Brody in a June 23 article suggesting that readers should ‘free yourself from the cult of Marlon Brando’, we may add the informative documentary LISTEN TO ME MARLON, which director Stevan Riley has based on his unprecedented access to hundreds of hours of recordings made by the famous, eccentric, reclusive, haunted actor. Our attention is instantly riveted by the digitization of Brando’s image, as he speaks about the process and its implications for future celebrities, uncannily echoing the use of Robin Wright and her image in THE CONGRESS. Brando shares memories of his mother and the respect for nature she instilled in him, although as an alcoholic, she spent more time drinking than mothering. There is a connection made with another great maternal figure in Brando’s life, acting teacher Stella Adler, and the respect for acting she instilled in him.
“Brando repeatedly refers to acting as ‘storytelling’, observing ‘I didn’t intend to have that extraordinary effect’, and decrying ‘the illusion of success — it removes you from reality. How can you do that to yourself?’ Finally he dismisses it entirely, saying ‘Acting is just making stuff up’. Hearing Brando’s own voice heightens our awareness of the confused and uncomfortable feelings he had about being the most famous actor of his time. He sought many different solutions for his confusion, maintaining at one point ‘You’ve got to be your own analyst’.
“Nothing really worked for him ultimately, his home life and relationships with his children Christian and Cheyenne tragic on a virtually Shakespearean level. Brando’s interests and experiences ranged from activism in the civil rights movement for both African-Americans and Native Americans, to buying a South Seas island and becoming king of his own domain. In later years he turned more and more inward, recording hundreds of hours of ruminations and self-analysis, his eating so out of control that he became morbidly obese, appearing infrequently in roles unworthy of his gifts solely for huge amounts of money. Part of Brando’s eternal mystery is that he ended his life not only befuddled by the significance of everything he had accomplished, but also seemingly tortured by his own genius.
“The carefully chosen excerpts from interviews and performances in LISTEN TO ME MARLON resulted in an urge to revisit his films, which I have been doing regularly since seeing this documentary. Sadly, Brando’s career was wildly inconsistent, and most of the movies range from mediocre (THE FUGITIVE KIND, ONE-EYED JACKS, MORITURI, THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY), to eccentric (MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, THE CHASE, A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG, REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE) to the truly terrible (GUYS AND DOLLS, CANDY, THE MISSOURI BREAKS, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU). But in four films — A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, ON THE WATERFRONT, THE GODFATHER, and LAST TANGO IN PARIS — his greatness is palpable, his influence on actors who followed him clear, his magic on screen forever for inspiration and discovery by future generations. 4 cats
“Friday, March 27, 2015, New Directors/New Films at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”