WILLARD:
... and then he broke from himself. I'd never seen a man so broken up and ripped apart..."
KURTZ:
"I've seen horrors...horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that...But you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means.
Horror. Horror has a face...And you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces...Seems a thousand centuries ago...We went into a camp to innoculate the children. We left the camp after we had innoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying.
He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every innoculated arm. There
they were in a pile...A pile of little arms. And I remember...I...I...I cried...I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want
to forget. And then I realized...like I was shot...Like I was shot with a diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead...And I thought: My God...the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters...These were men...trained cadres...these men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with
love...but they had the strength...the strength...to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral...and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordal instincts to kill without feeling...without passion...without judgement...without judgement. Because it's judgement that
defeats us. "
KURTZ (to Willard)
"I worry that my son might not understand what I've tried to be. And if I were to be killed, Willard, I would want someone to go
to my home and tell my son everything. Everything I did, everything you saw... Because there is nothing I detest more than the stench of lies. And if you understand me, Willard, you'll do this for me."
Read more!
Apocalypse Now
On The Waterfront
An Oscar Award winning performance:
Stay away from me!!!
Come on please. Open the door please!
Stop it!
I want you to stay away from me!
I know what you want me to do, but I ain't gonna do it so forget it!
I don't want you to do anything. You let your conscience tell you what to do.
You shut up about that conscience. That's all I've been hearing.
I never mentioned the word before--you just stay away from me!
Edie, you love me. I want you to say---
I didn't say I didn't love you, I said stay away from me!
I want you to say it to me.
Stay away from me.
Terry.
Hey Terry! Hey Terry your brother is down here, he want to see you!
Charlie.
Hey Terry.
Hey Terry. Your brother is down here.
Read more!
Brando's Biography (Part 2: Early Life)
Early life
Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska on April 3, 1924 , the son of Dorothy Julia Pennebaker Brando (1897–1954), an actress, and Marlon Brando, Sr. (1895–1965), a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer. The family moved to Evanston, Illinois and in 1935, when he was eleven years old, his parents separated. His mother briefly took her three children Marlon, Jocelyn (1919–2005) and Frances Brando (1922–1994) to live with her mother in Santa Ana, California until 1937, when the parents reconciled and moved to Libertyville, Illinois, a village north of Chicago. The family was of mixed Dutch, Irish, German, Huguenot, and English descent. Contrary to what is stated in some biographies, Brando's grandfather Eugene E. Brando was not French but was born in New York state. Brando's grandmother Marie Holloway abandoned Eugene and their son Marlon Brando Sr. when he was five years old and used the money to suport her gambling and constant boozing.
Brando's mother, Dodie, was an unconventional but intelligent and talented woman. She smoked, wore trousers and drove automobiles at a time when it was unusual for women to do so. However, she suffered from alcoholism and often had to be retrieved from Chicago bars by Brando's father. She later became a leader of Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie was an actress and administrator in local theater and was written about for her theatrical work by the Omaha newspapers. She helped a young Henry Fonda to begin his own acting career, and fueled Brando's interest in stage acting. His father, Marlon Sr., was a gifted amateur photographer. Brando's maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, to whom Brando was perhaps closer than his own mother, was also unconventional. Widowed at a young age, she worked to support herself as a secretary and later as a Christian Science healer, and was well known in Omaha. Her father, Myles Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland and her mother, Julia Watts, was from England. Brando was a gifted mimic from early childhood and developed a rare ability to absorb the tics and mannerisms of people he played and to display those traits dramatically while staying in character. His sister, Jocelyn Brando, however, was the first to pursue a career in acting, going to New York to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She later appeared on Broadway, in movies and on television. Next, Marlon's sister Frannie left college in California to study art in New York. Marlon followed.
Brando had a tumultuous youth. He was held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the school. At the age of sixteen years, he was sent to Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota, where his father had gone before him. At Shattuck, he excelled at theatre and got along well within the structure of the school. In his final year (1943), he was put on probation for talking back to an officer during maneuvers. A part of his probation was that he be confined to the school campus, but he eventually tried sneaking off campus into town and was caught. The faculty voted to expel him. He received support from his fellow students who thought the punishment too harsh. He was later invited back for the next year, but decided not to finish school.
He worked as a ditch-digger in his hometown as a summer job arranged by his father, but had decided to follow his sisters to New York. One sister was trying to be a painter and the other had already appeared on Broadway. He visited his sister Frances in New York at Christmas 1942 and liked the experience. Brando was given six months of support from his father, after which his father offered to help him get a job as a salesman. Brando left Illinois for New York City, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, New School Dramatic Workshop, and the Actors' Studio. It was at the New School's Dramatic Workshop that he studied with Stella Adler and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System. There is a possibly apocryphal story in which Adler spoke about teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the class to act like chickens, then adding that a bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. When Adler asked Brando to explain his action, he replied, "I'm a chicken - What do I know from a bomb?"
Read more!
Brando's Biography (Part 2: Early Life)
Early life
Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska on April 3, 1924 , the son of Dorothy Julia Pennebaker Brando (1897–1954), an actress, and Marlon Brando, Sr. (1895–1965), a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer. The family moved to Evanston, Illinois and in 1935, when he was eleven years old, his parents separated. His mother briefly took her three children Marlon, Jocelyn (1919–2005) and Frances Brando (1922–1994) to live with her mother in Santa Ana, California until 1937, when the parents reconciled and moved to Libertyville, Illinois, a village north of Chicago. The family was of mixed Dutch, Irish, German, Huguenot, and English descent. Contrary to what is stated in some biographies, Brando's grandfather Eugene E. Brando was not French but was born in New York state. Brando's grandmother Marie Holloway abandoned Eugene and their son Marlon Brando Sr. when he was five years old and used the money to suport her gambling and constant boozing.
Brando's mother, Dodie, was an unconventional but intelligent and talented woman. She smoked, wore trousers and drove automobiles at a time when it was unusual for women to do so. However, she suffered from alcoholism and often had to be retrieved from Chicago bars by Brando's father. She later became a leader of Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie was an actress and administrator in local theater and was written about for her theatrical work by the Omaha newspapers. She helped a young Henry Fonda to begin his own acting career, and fueled Brando's interest in stage acting. His father, Marlon Sr., was a gifted amateur photographer. Brando's maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, to whom Brando was perhaps closer than his own mother, was also unconventional. Widowed at a young age, she worked to support herself as a secretary and later as a Christian Science healer, and was well known in Omaha. Her father, Myles Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland and her mother, Julia Watts, was from England. Brando was a gifted mimic from early childhood and developed a rare ability to absorb the tics and mannerisms of people he played and to display those traits dramatically while staying in character. His sister, Jocelyn Brando, however, was the first to pursue a career in acting, going to New York to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She later appeared on Broadway, in movies and on television. Next, Marlon's sister Frannie left college in California to study art in New York. Marlon followed.
Brando had a tumultuous youth. He was held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the school. At the age of sixteen years, he was sent to Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota, where his father had gone before him. At Shattuck, he excelled at theatre and got along well within the structure of the school. In his final year (1943), he was put on probation for talking back to an officer during maneuvers. A part of his probation was that he be confined to the school campus, but he eventually tried sneaking off campus into town and was caught. The faculty voted to expel him. He received support from his fellow students who thought the punishment too harsh. He was later invited back for the next year, but decided not to finish school.
He worked as a ditch-digger in his hometown as a summer job arranged by his father, but had decided to follow his sisters to New York. One sister was trying to be a painter and the other had already appeared on Broadway. He visited his sister Frances in New York at Christmas 1942 and liked the experience. Brando was given six months of support from his father, after which his father offered to help him get a job as a salesman. Brando left Illinois for New York City, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, New School Dramatic Workshop, and the Actors' Studio. It was at the New School's Dramatic Workshop that he studied with Stella Adler and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System. There is a possibly apocryphal story in which Adler spoke about teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the class to act like chickens, then adding that a bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. When Adler asked Brando to explain his action, he replied, "I'm a chicken - What do I know from a bomb?"
Read more!
Brando's Biography (Part 1)
Bit by bit, I'll post sections of Marlon Brando's entry in wikipedia. The reason you should read it here is because of the AnswerTips that you see below. Every time you see this icon, you can click on any word you don't know and it will give a definition, examples, pronunciation, and even translations into your own language. Try it!
Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an Academy Award-winning American actor, whose body of work spanned over half a century. He is widely considered one of the greatest American film actors of all time, indeed, ranking seventh in AFI's (American Film Industry) Top 10 Greatest Actors. As a young sex symbol,he is best known for his roles as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, both directed by Elia Kazan in the early 1950s. In middle age, his well-known roles include his Academy Award-winning performance as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, both directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and an Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in Last Tango in Paris.
Brando was also an activist, lending his presence to many issues, including the American Civil Rights and American Indian Movements. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
Read more!
Stella!!!
In this week's interview, Mari says that she likes romantic comedies. Personally I think romantic dramas are much more interesting because they mirror real life. Here's Brando delivering one of the most famous movie lines ever, "Stella!!"
Kowalski: Hey, Stella!
Eunice: You quit that howling down there and go to bed.
Kowalski: Eunice, I want my girl down here.
Eunice: You shut-up. You're going to get the law on you.
Kowalski: Hey, Stella!!
Eunice: You can’t beat on a woman an then call her back 'cause she ain't gonna come. And her going to have a baby!
Kowalski: Listen, Eunice.
Eunice: I hope they haul you in and turn a fire hose on you --
Kowalski: Eunice, I want my girl down here.
Eunice: -- like they done the last time. You stinker!
Kowalski: Hey, Stellllaaaa!!! Hey, Stellaaaa!!
Eunice: I wouldn't mix in this.
Stanley: Don't ever leave me baby.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Skill from Brazil!
Ok. This video is not going to help your English, but this week we are talking about abilities with Ron and Mari and I was incredibly impressed with the soccer abilities that these guys from Brazil have.
Read more!
