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Brando In "The Men"... A Legendary Film Star Is Born...

LadyWriter214 | California, USA | 10/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is where it all started...Marlon Brando's one-of-a-kind film legacy...



Marlon's performance in "The Men" demonstrates his natural talent - a talent that is now the legacy of the greatest actor of all time. His remarkable performance in "The Men" drew me in immediately. I could not take my eyes off of him. His demeanor, his facial expressions, and the way he spoke reminded me somewhat of his screen test for "Rebel Without A Cause." He is sweet, tender, ambivalent, unassuming, and somewhat emotionally injured - much as I believe he was in his life off of the screen as well. There is nobody I have seen on stage or screen who can achieve such a delicate and perfect balance of emotion or elicit the kinds of emotions he does in others through his performances as Marlon did in the roles he has played on stage and screen.



I have 36 Marlon Brando films in my collection, many of which I have watched several times. But, I have never been able to bring myself to watch "The Men" until very recently. I am a nurse and I have seen first hand that which Marlon's character, "Bud," faced after becoming a paraplegic as the result of an injury. In my work, it has weighed on me at times that, although I possess some medical expertise and although I can contribute to helping a person back to optimal health following a tragedy, I am still not able to wave a magic wand and turn his reality into a dream from which he will awaken.



I knew what "The Men" was about and with having become very familiar with Marlon Brando's realistic and poignant portrayals of people on film such as his portrayal in this film, I expected that my insides would be torn asunder. And, they were. Marlon portrayed it as it truly was and is. In the beginning, "Bud" is afraid to live while also being afraid to die. Later in the film, this sentiment is echoed by Jack Webb's character when he recites a piece of Hamlet's soliloquy from "To Be Or Not To Be"..."To die, to sleep...to sleep, perchance to dream...aye, there's the rub...for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause" - the contemplation of suicide, but, at the same time, the fear of what one may face in death should one choose to take his own life due to his circumstances. Which is the most fearful prospect?



"The Men" is about a man who, following a war injury, finds that he has become a paraplegic and that life will never be the same for him again. Throughout the film, he travels through every stage of grief and grieving and, ultimately, comes to terms with his circumstance. I won't give the details of the film away, but I will say that it is definitely a "must see" movie and that, among the many touching scenes throughout, a very moving scene with Bud and his wife takes place at the end and one is left feeling so many emotions.



This is an excellent film, the first film for Marlon Brando, and one whose heart-rending insight into the personal struggles of a man faced with a life-altering situation is exhibited with absolute perfection by Marlon Brando."