The actor who rewrote the rules of acting is immortalized in this documentary directed by Stevan Riley. The result is a formally rigorous, absorbing portrait of a complex man. Brando is utterly convincing as Major Gruver, a patriotic flying ace whose ingrained prejudices are confronted by the crazed Colonel Kurtz. This film, like all of Brando’s work, divides opinion.
1. On the Waterfront
One of the most influential movies ever made, Brando’s performance as a hardened longshoreman is haunting and transformative. He won an Oscar for his performance, and the film remains one of the most important in cinema history.
Director Stevan Riley culled hours of audio and footage from the reclusive Brando, including recordings of conversations with himself, notes to his friends and family, and self-hypnosis tapes. It’s a fascinating look into the actor’s private life and a poignant reminder of his immense talent. The movie’s also just plain entertaining.
2. The Godfather
With the help of director Stevan Riley, Brando let his taped thoughts do the talking in this posthumous portrait. Without relying on the documentary staple of talking heads, the film assembles hundreds of hours of private Brando audio and paints an extraordinarily insightful picture of the man.
The Godfather helped resurrect Brando’s career, which would see him lauded in Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial Last Tango in Paris and Richard Donner’s mainstream Superman. He would later deliver another classic performance in Apocalypse Now.
3. The Caine Mutiny
Although he had flopped miserably in the 1960s, Francis Ford Coppola brought Brando back to the screen with this rousing biopic about Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Questionable makeup and accent aside, Brando nails the character of a man who refused to be a pariah.
The 1962 remake of MGM’s 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty doesn’t quite capture the magic of Charles Laughton’s original performance, but Brando’s Fletcher Christian is powerful and convincing. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. It won one. It also inspired an iconic song.
4. One-Eyed Jacks
A new 4K restoration courtesy of Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation makes One-Eyed Jacks look like the masterpiece it always was. In his only directorial outing, Brando reveals a tortured soul as Rio, a bank robber seeking revenge against his old partner Dad (Karl Malden).
It’s a stunning performance that illuminates the reaches of his acting skills and fuses overt artistry with psychology to explore the roots of male anxiety and masculine conflict. No wonder this is considered one of the most important slasher movies ever made.
5. The Magnani Affair
Brando proves to be a chameleon in Bernardo Bertolucci’s provocative drama. The film showcases an open wound of a man who avoids nestling into usual tropes in favor of creating a character with genuine depth and intrigue.
After a brief hiatus, Brando returned with a bang in this grand mafia epic. His transformative performance creates a one-of-a-kind mafioso that no other actor could replicate.
