Best Picture of 1954, Best Picture/Best Director/Best Screenplay/Best Actor/Best Actress He is worthy of eight Oscars and nominated for four more.
Marlon Brando is indeed a great actor. The top eight movies on the AFI 98 list, he starred in two (the third "The Godfather" and the eighth "Dock"), both won the Oscar for best actor (in fact, the earlier "A Streetcar Named Desire", just has made him famous and nominated for Best Actor). Needless to say about his acting skills. And it's also great to stand in line - "Teach" and "Code" are both the best pictures at the Oscars. If I had to pick such a flaw, I am afraid it is Brando's "anti-hero" style, which is too unique, not like Bogart, although it is evil, but after all, it is based on righteousness. Perhaps it is because of this that the best actor of the last century by AFI is the latter. Nicholson imitated Brando's style, but added his own unique "nervousness". Classmate DiCaprio (Xiao Li) imitates Nicholson again, and without his own "shen Yun", he can only laugh.
Some people criticized the plot of this film as "too bloody", chasing the brain-dead TV series: gangster pony, killing a girl who still wants to chase other people, was emotionalized by the girl's love, so she turned positive and overthrew the gang boss...
I don't quite agree with this point of view. First of all, even if the plot is really bloody, the expressiveness of a two-hour movie is different from a dozen/tens of hours of TV drama. Because of the short time and tight rhythm of the movie, it is easy for the audience to focus on the development and resolution of the main contradiction. What's more, the depth of this film cannot be summed up by the bloody plot above:
First, the protagonist Terry is not an ordinary gangster, unlike the others around Johnny. He was a promising boxer, and he never forgot in his heart that he "coulda had class...
Second, the love between Terry and Edie is not a simple and bloody "love at first sight". There is a good complementarity between them. From Edie, Terry found the courage to fight against evil that he didn't have; and Terry's experience, living in all kinds of troubles since he was a child, survived by sticking to his own principles (although he is not kind, but it is not a big gangster) evil), something Edie doesn't have. Moreover, others only regard Terry as Johnny's lackey (such as Edie's father), only Edie sees Terry's good side - taking care of Joey's pigeons is the epitome.
Third, apart from love, Father Barry also had an influence on Terry.
Fourth, the brotherhood between brother Charlie. The dialogue between the two brothers in the taxi is a classic scene (quoted in "Raging Bull"). The older brother's confession ruined the younger brother's future for the gang's self-interest. And this kind of repentance pushed Terry in the opposite direction of his brother. In the end, the death of his brother completely strengthened Terry's determination to overthrow Johnny, even if Edie had already compromised and persuaded him to leave.
By the way, I really appreciate the female lead in this film. She's the kind of character who exudes an aura as soon as she appears and makes the film shine. After watching the nearly 20 films of AFI top, there are only two female characters that make me feel incredible - one is Edie here, and the other is Ilsa in "Casablanca". It's a pity that Eva Marie Saint's achievements in the film industry are much smaller than Ilsa's Ingrid Bergman...
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