It was July 1, 2004 when the world was about to say goodbye to one of the greatest interpreters in the history of cinema. Born in Los Angeles on April 3, 1924, Marlon Brando he is one of the best known faces of the seventh art, among the first to build his acting art on Stanislavski method, capable of convincing the public precisely because of the ability he had to hide almost completely in the characters he brought to the big screen. His debut in front of the camera occurred in 1950 with the film My body belongs to you, but the real success came the following year, when he took part in the film A tram called desire by Elia Kazan. The greatness of Marlon Brando lay in his ability to be credible in any role that was proposed to him, whether he was the impotent and homosexual major of Reflections in a golden eye or the gambler at the center of the film Bully e pupe. On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his death, here are the films of Marlon Brando that must be seen at least once in a lifetime by all those who profess to love cinema.
Marlon Brando’s unmissable films
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse now It can be considered without effort one of the best films made by the director Francis Ford Coppola, who decided to make a transposition of its own kind of the short novel Heart of Darkness Of Joseph Conrad, but set in 1969, in the heart of the Vietnam War that has so influenced American culture and politics. The feature film follows the adventures of Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen), a man struggling with the consequences of post-traumatic stress who is called back to war for a completely unexpected mission: the captain, in fact, must enter the Cambodian jungle to locate and capture the former Colonel Kurtz. The character, played by a Marlon Brando truly unforgettable, it becomes the mask of rebellion and disobedience, but also of the horror of war. Considered a deserter and a traitor, Kurtz truly represents that heart of darkness that emerges when humanity is called to kill its own kind at the behest of an almost absent State.
The Godfather
Remaining in the filmography of Francis Ford Coppola, who gave the history of cinema some of its milestones, The Godfather is a film that must be seen at least once in a lifetime and not only for the iconic and unforgettable interpretation of Marlon Brando. Based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and also made unforgettable by the soundtrack of Broken Child, The film tells the story of the Corleone family’s rise in the dark world of mafia crime. Marlon Brando plays the family’s leader, Don Vito Corleone, an elegant man who is apparently so full of honor that it makes it easy to obey his requests. Although Marlon Brando has a somewhat limited amount of time on the screen, his Don Vito Corleone is one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema, who has entered the collective imagination so deeply that he is recognizable even by the little ones. This is demonstrated, for example, by the inclusion of a character inspired by Don Vito in the animated film Zootropolis. Furthermore, Marlon Brando continued to be talked about even after the end of filming: for his performance he was awarded the Oscar, but the actor refused it, entrusting his refusal to the voice of the Apache representative Sacheen Littlefeather.
Harbor front
Presented in Venice in 1954 – where it won the Golden Lion – Harbour front it’s the movie of Elia Kazan who cooperated in confirming the talent of Marlon Brando but also his fame as a Hollywood star, as we read on Coming Soon, to become a real role model for the younger ones, who did everything to resemble the arrogant and charming protagonist of the film. In the film the interpreter of Don Vito Corleone plays the role of Terry Malloy, a former boxer who finds himself working at the port after being convinced by his brother (Rod Steiger) to voluntarily lose a boxing match at the behest of the mafioso Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). Having lost the fight in the ring as well as having lost faith in human beings have made Terry an arrogant, cynical man, with great physical strength, that Friendly would like to have totally under his control. But Terry ends up meeting a girl who wants to fight against the mafia and this will also lead Terry to fight, although “only” as a dock worker. An angry and, at the same time, heartbreaking film, Harbor front is perhaps one of the most unforgettable feature films made by Brando.
Don Juan de Marco – Maestro d’amore
Certainly not among Marlon Brando’s most famous films, Don Juan de Marco – Maestro d’amore is a surreal comedy that allows you to see another side of the acting of the great Hollywood actor. Brando, in fact, plays a psychologist who is about to retire: leaving his job scares him, because it puts him face to face with the possibility of finding himself stuck in a boring life, where not even his relationship with his wife seems to represent a spark of vitality. . Everything changes when the psychologist is called to follow a patient who introduces himself as Don Juan de Marco (Johnny Depp), a lovable lover just waiting for the love of his life to return. With a cloak over his shoulders and a mask covering his eyes, the boy will become a sort of model for his psychologist, who slowly rediscovers the pleasures of life and the importance of love. Marlon Brando got along so well with Johnny Depp (who was long considered his heir) that he also agreed to participate in the film which marked the actor’s debut behind the camera. Pirates of the Caribbean, which was titled The brave.
Last tango in Paris
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and released in 1974, Last tango in Paris is undoubtedly the most controversial film in which Brando appears. Especially because of the phantom “butter scene” which, as reported Voguepushed the protagonist to never want to perform nude scenes again in her entire career and Bernardo Bertolucci to admit that he had behaved horribly with the young actress, asserting – as he writes Daily fact – that its purpose was that “she felt really humiliated”. The film’s story is about Paul (Brando), a forty-year-old who is grieving for his suicidal wife and who seeks some refuge in the alleys of Paris.
One day, while wandering aimlessly, the man comes across the very young Jeanne (Maria Schneider), for which he immediately loses his head. The girl, despite being engaged, lets herself be carried away by the passion that she begins to have for Paul and a strong erotic relationship begins between the two. Soon, however, things take an unexpected turn.
