tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28525168.post2795834361540824755..comments2024-01-01T21:31:27.654-08:00Comments on UNCLE EDDIE'S THEORY CORNER: THE INCOMPARABLE ANNA MAGNANIEddie Fitzgeraldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07729949238666234774noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28525168.post-32470824359486869232010-08-29T22:12:31.819-07:002010-08-29T22:12:31.819-07:00Severino: It seemed funny to me, but it's all ...Severino: It seemed funny to me, but it's all in the eye of the beholder. <br /><br />Paul: I like dialogue that you accept as being natural, but isn't natural at all. Theater is all about artifice. <br /><br />Good point about the judge's voice. I'm glad they did it that way, though.Eddie Fitzgeraldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07729949238666234774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28525168.post-82930091294329581122010-08-29T10:04:55.870-07:002010-08-29T10:04:55.870-07:00It's funny if you know the various contexts in...It's funny if you know the various contexts involved. These days, we're used to acting and screen writing that's more seemingly naturalistic in terms of how people speak in real life, the words they use, how they inflect them, the pauses and hesitations that can occur when people are speaking off the cuff and putting words to their thoughts as they occur to them on a moment to moment basis. Contrast this to the more typical film dialog of the period, which is generally aimed at conveying the _sense_ of what the character is saying more than the way in which it would actually be spoken in real life. This is a vast simplification of course, and also not a value judgement - nobody talks like Shakespeare, either, and never did. But Brando's acting (and that of others of the "method school") was so strikingly at odds with what most people were used to seeing that it inevitably became the object of satire.<br /><br />The last clip could almost be "Greatest Hits" of Brando schtick from any number of comic impressionists of the period. A <i>Variety</i> review at the time said "Brando is back to mumbling with marbles in his mouth too often." And, in truth, today it does seem rather mannered in its own way, full of those tics that Brando used again and again. Me, I kept thinking Don Corleone only speaking a <i>little</i> more clearly.<br /><br />It's interesting to contrast him here with his scene in the clip with Magnani. In that one, he's more clearly following lines of scripted dialog - it doesn't sound as spontaneous, and is plainly written to lead up to a Big Moment. Again, that's doesn't mean it's a bad thing, because it's a powerful, if more traditional, theatrical moment.<br /><br />The courtroom scene is clearly improvised, and all in one take. Note that the judge's lines are all looped, and pretty jarringly so. The different acoustic and the dubbing actor's delivery are so at odds with Brando's that he sounds like he's talking with the Voice of God. My guess is that on the set, someone (possibly director Lumet) was improvising along with Brando, staying "in the moment" with him, monitoring his performance moment by moment, knowing when to interject his lines and when to keep quiet to let Brando do his thing.Paul Pennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15675804395438758118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28525168.post-30723746546615100632010-08-29T06:40:10.762-07:002010-08-29T06:40:10.762-07:00Anna Magnani is a name I haven't heard of unti...Anna Magnani is a name I haven't heard of until this post, but based on the performances that you linked to in the post, she seemed like a lively, skilled, and incredible actress in her own right. Just look at how her eyes and head move in that first clip that you linked to. They're both really expressive and help get the points across. Brando isn't half bad himself neither, although I don't understand why you thought the last clip was funny in any way. I mean that was great, and he has a distinct voice and mannerisms, but I just didn't find it too humorous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28525168.post-61482286558884894142010-08-28T18:00:52.807-07:002010-08-28T18:00:52.807-07:00Incredible performance.Incredible performance.Steven M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17284662120928553055noreply@blogger.com