First Hit: It was very interesting to hear Marlon Brando speak about his acting and his life.
Two performances of Brando’s still stand out to me; “On the Waterfront” and “Godfather”. My reason for these two among many powerful roles, was that the first captures him young and new to the profession, while the latter was after years of experience and the subtly and strength of his ability to be at the top of his game showed through.
This film has many still pictures of Brando, a few film clips of him in a particular film and clips of him outside of film-making. For the most part the voice overs are minimal and it is Brando’s voice taken from recordings he made for himself. There are also voice mail recordings from his answering machine and a couple interview segments.
What struck me about this was how strongly he felt about bringing a character to life through the use of facial expressions, looks, and an embodiment of the person in his own body. He commented on how many actors before him just gave their personality to each role they played. He didn't feel that they brought a character to the role and he found that disdainful.
The film also documented his personal life and the difficult things that happened to his son and daughter.
Steven Riley and Peter Ettedgui wrote this with a strong focus towards telling Marlon’s story. Riley did a great job of piecing together snippets of film and audio material into a great story.
Overall: It was a fascinating look at a great actor.