Marlon Brando :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Marlon Brando

Posted by admin on Monday, July 05, 2004 - 12:24 AM

It's hard to believe Marlon Brando was 80 when he died Thursday. For many Americans, he'll forever be the young and electrifying Stanley Kowalski of A Streetcar Named Desire.
It's no secret he was old and obese, but 80? Not Marlin Brando. But then, America really didn't know that much at all about the very private Brando, and that was the special strength of this great American actor. Unlike so many actors today who play themselves, he was a chameleon who really seemed to become the characters he played. He etched the roles onto the national consciousness. When he played a leather-clad motorcyclist in The Wild One in 1954, someone asked his character what he was rebelling against. "Whattaya got?," he replied. It doesn't get much cooler than that. Fans will be saying that line this week and for years to come, just as they'll be screaming "Stella!" like Stanley and saying "I coulda been a contenda," like Brando's Terry Malloy character in On the Waterfront. They'll be rasping like Brando as Don Corleone in The Godfather, his comeback film of 1972. His fans will be saying all those things this week, and they'll be talking about Brando's eccentricities and his love for Tahiti and American Indians. And once again, they'll be trying to figure out who he really was. He came from the American heartland, born in Nebraska. But his was a shadowed heartland, one with childhood torments that no doubt fueled his genius as well as his moodiness, making him familiar and exotic all at once. He became a bridge between the larger-than-life stars such as Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart and many who came later. He made his own way with Method acting and influenced greats such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson. His characters explored American rebellion (The Wild One), power (The Godfather) and lust (Last Tango in Paris). He made some real clunkers as well, but they fade to oblivion beside his master works. But who was he and what made him tick? He was as mysterious as the crazy military officer he played in Apocalypse Now, a portrayal that underscored disillusionment with the Vietnam War and disillusionment in general. He's gone now with all his secrets, leaving his fans muttering his lines and wondering. Yet all they really need know is this: He was an actor, one whose magnitude and power will not be seen for years to come, as surely as his films will be loved and studied for generations to come.

· 86 Reads ·