“Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse.”
Documentaries engineered by a subject’s estate deserve a dose of skepticism. Access to rare materials is no small thing, but complete artistic control tends to make for better art. In the style of family-approved documentaries like Tupac: Resurrection and Montage of Heck, British director Stevan Riley drew from more than 200 hours of private audio recordings to construct Listen to Me Marlon‘s voice-from-beyond-the-grave narration.
Marlon Brando talks about the mother from whom he inherited his sense of the absurd, the father from whom he inherited his contempt for authority, and the acting coach with whom he honed his craft…