{"id":21097,"date":"2015-08-24T10:29:55","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T17:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=21097"},"modified":"2015-08-25T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T19:51:16","slug":"listen-to-me-marlon-film-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/listen-to-me-marlon-film-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen to Me Marlon — Film Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen to Me Marlon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Directed by Steven Riley<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a superb rendering of the varied, complex, and deeply tragic life of Marlon Brando.\u00a0 It is very moving.\u00a0 I don’t know what could be done to improve this film.\u00a0\u00a0 I think it is as good a presentation of this subject as can be done within the time constraint of under two hours.\u00a0 Obviously when you try to condense a life as rich and complicated as Marlon Brando’s into less than two hours some things have to be left out.\u00a0 I am curious to know more about Marlon Brando’s life as a result of watching this film, but the film had both breadth and depth.\u00a0 It covered everything that I would have wanted it to cover and it was a penetrating, thought provoking study.\u00a0 This was made possible by the many hours of audio diaries that Marlon Brando recorded himself that were searching, thoughtful, and introspective, and formed the soundtrack for the film.\u00a0 There was no narrator or commentator other than Brando himself.\u00a0 There were photographs, documentary footage, and newscasts to illustrate events.<\/p>\n

The film explored his difficult childhood growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, with alcoholic parents, and an especially cold, violent father.\u00a0 The mother seems to have been somewhat better and he had a nanny that he felt close to, but who left him at age seven to get married.\u00a0 He had a bitter divorce, his son was kidnapped and recovered.\u00a0 The son later killed his half sister’s boyfriend in Brando’s house.\u00a0 The half sister later committed suicide.\u00a0 He suffered more than his share of horrendous tragedies. \u00a0He did not like the spotlight.\u00a0 Like John Lennon, he realized what a world of illusion and misunderstanding it is, how isolating it can be, and how it makes authentic relationships with people difficult or impossible.\u00a0 He was interested in the civil rights struggle.\u00a0 He was a companion and supporter of Martin Luther King.\u00a0 He refused an Oscar as a protest on behalf of American Indians and their treatment by Hollywood.\u00a0 He was more than an actor.\u00a0 He thought about social issues and the impact of films upon society.<\/p>\n

The film does a good job of connecting Brando’s inner demons with his work on stage and in the movies as an actor.\u00a0 His work as an actor grew out of his inner torment.\u00a0 “When you are unwanted, you try on different identities in hope that you will find something that is acceptable.\u00a0 Acting is survival.”\u00a0 He was blessed with stunning good looks and natural charisma.\u00a0 \u00a0Many of his films are among the best films ever made.\u00a0 There are reflections on the nature of acting and footage of his acting teacher, Stella Adler, at the New School in New York City.\u00a0 He had been in psychoanalysis, which I think helped him focus on his inner self and use his own inner turmoil in his acting.\u00a0 It probably motivated him to make the many tapes of his thoughts and comments, which are a fortunate treasure trove of information and insight.<\/p>\n

I have never made a list of my ten best documentary films of all time, but if I ever did, this would likely be on it.\u00a0 It is very hard to get any better than this.\u00a0 Go see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen to Me Marlon Directed by Steven Riley   This is a superb rendering of the varied, complex, and deeply tragic life of Marlon Brando.\u00a0 It is very moving.\u00a0 I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[671],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-go-see"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"