Presenters
Abstract
This study investigates the way in which Marlon Brando worked with film scripts in an attempt to shed some light on the unique technique which has garnered him the title of one of America’s greatest actors. Most of the published material available on Brando focuses on his tumultuous personal life. While it may contribute to a paper on the cult of celebrity, this type of gossip does little to address Brando’s performances as an actor. So, where do the answers concerning Brando’s technique lie?
Robert Gessner, author of The Moving Image: A Guide to Cinematic Literacy, has suggested that a film script “is the key that can unlock most of the secrets of cinema” (13). In other words, a detailed look at a script in comparison with a finished film can offer answers concerning an actor’s performance. Specifically, this paper compares Brando’s performance in Last Tango in Paris (MGM: Bertolucci, 1972) with a draft of the script dated 1 Jan 1971 to reveal Brando’s tendency to recreate and rewrite scripts while acting. The script was provided to me by the University of California in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the published script available for Last Tango in Paris is “a curious amalgam of a shooting script (with extra scenes of little importance no longer in the film) and transcribed improvisations” (Thompson 42). Since this published script is at times just a word-for-word transcript of the finished film, and is of little help, a comparative look at the draft from 1971 along with his performance will help explain Brando’s method and how he earned his reputation as an actor among critics and his peers. Martin Scorsese has argued the case for a reconsideration of Brando’s work. I agree, and suggest that this should begin with a study of his work on words.
Works Cited: Gessner, Robert. The Moving Image: A Guide to Cinematic Literacy. London: Cassell & Company Ltd, 1968.
Thompson, David. BFI Modern Classics: Last Tango in Paris. London: BFI Publishing, 1998.