In time for the release of the new documentary Listen to Me Marlon, TIFF is doing a short revival run of some of "the great American actor's" noted performances. They have made some interesting selections here. You see Brando at his best and worst.
The post-mortem worship for the man can be a bit much. If I see another middle-aged actor serving as a talking head and fawning about his influence, I might throw up. Most of what is bestowed on him was done first by Montgomery Clift, John Garfield et al but there's no denying the potent appeal of him as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (Oct. 3) or the subtle depth that he gave to Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (Oct. 4).
Fawning documentaries like Turner Classic Movies' Brando have attempted to redress his legacy after decades of gossip and parody — but Brando was actively bad (see, or don't, The Island of Dr. Moreau on Oct. 6 but do see The Missouri Breaks on Oct. 11) more times than he was good.
His famed ambivalence is observable as far back as the 1950's in vehicles like the junky The Wild One (Oct. 10). Still, he draws you back for another look like only a select few movie stars can. Last Tango In Paris (Oct. 8), for all its hype, is really only successful in Brando's big scenes.
Screening Round Up
What do you say about Hausu? I do know it's worth seeing that's for sure. It's a strange, freaky film and must be like a bad psychotropic bender. It's a haunted house film from Japanese director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi where the house itself is the threat. And it's screening at The Revue for free as part of Art for Eternity Oct. 8 at 9:30 p.m. They call the film indescribable but then manage a pretty good one: "An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava…"
Speaking of The Revue, they're hosting a batch of indie pay-what-you-can documentary screenings as part of Toronto Indie Doc Festival this Sunday Oct. 4 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Also be sure to look for actor James Cromwell introducing the civil liberties doc Imminent Threat the preceding evening at Black Cat Gallery (2186 Dundas St. W.) at 6:30 p.m. as part of the same fest.
And just because it's October, once The Royal kicks out all the comics from #JFL42, you can catch the rep cinema stalwart Psycho starting Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. Don't be late or Hitch will be ticked…
Toronto Screengrab of the Week
Last week’s entry saw The Vow transposing Casa Loma to Chicago and this week we have a film that transposes Toronto's Superior Court of Justice to Washington D.C.
