Adrien Brody has talked about how he went into this as a main character and was cut to a bit part.
I'm an hour in (on IFC, which has commercials, so maybe 45 minutes in, really) and he's yet to speak, there have just been a few shots of him looking nervous/scared. Poor guy. What a punch to the gut that must've been when he saw it.
My view is that he played the role wrong. Okay, maybe they told him to play it that way, but evidently he didn't do a good enough job.
What I'm saying is, the shots in which he does feature in the film, sometimes characters will talk to him or create an opportunity to get some kind of response from him but he just stares at them blankly, looking nervous yes but in my opinion not playing the part great and not so convincing and ultimately looking more like he is on a scary acid trip. At these points in the film I find myself wondering "why doesn't he speak?/why doesn't he respond to them?" Ultimately he appears to have one or two lines in the final cut, however he is one of the characters who gets a voice over narration segment, albeit a small one. Before the river patrol in the last act, shortly after Nick Stahls character Beade died, there is a close up on Brody's face as we hear what appears to be him reminiscing a discussion he had with another soldier, probably a non-com, at an earlier time which was probably when they were on the ship. It goes like this:-
Fife: You seen many dead people?
Other Soldier: No... they're no different than dead dogs, once you get used to the idea. You're weak, kid.
I loved the last sentence "your weak, kid". The soldier could see that, and quite callously just told him straight up, not even in a sympathetic manner. I think that probably had a lot to do with Fife being so nervous, self fulfilling prophecy, and because he cares too much about what others think about him and allows it to have too much influence on him. I think that three word sentence was playing on his mind, a lot. Hence why he was thinking about it then.
As for the soldier who said this, I think it was John C. Reilly's character Sgt. Storm. I am a huge fan of John C. Reilly and know the sound of his voice quite well, and I think this was his voice.
Like Brody, Reilly was also just in the background a lot until finally speaking in the third act (and probably being heard in that abrupt voice over segment). Difference is though that he was basically no more than an extra for all of the film until the third act. Brody meanwhile had close ups on his face, had other characters interacting with them, and he acted like he wasn't there like he was tripped out on acid. I think that he played the part not good enough, that he could have made himself more significant, and if he actually expected to be the lead in this such huge ensemble after playing the role like that then he was naive - he had no chance of being featured more significantly than Caviezel, Penn, Koteas and Nolte taking into account what each of the five actors brought to their role. It was his own fault, in my opinion.
I can see your point, but I think he likely responded verbally and it was cut. There are several times where it looks like he's about to speak and the scene just stops.
It's really weird that they left in his close ups and whatnot, because it makes him look like someone important... then he's not. Why leave in all the shots of him and cut most of his dialog? So senseless.
Several big actors were cut completely from this movie, so I guess he was ultimately lucky.
shareMore proof that Malik is garbage. Yes I said it. The whole film is his responsibility, from acting to overall flow. Why the hell would you cut your main actor unless you didn't know what you were trying to accomplish?? I don't get why people think he is amazing. (No, I don't like transformers)
shareSo go watch the Transformers instead!
sharehahahaha. but I'll rewatch AND ENJOY Tenet again, thank you.
you tell me.... why cut major parts out of your movie, if you have a solid understanding of what you are trying to accomplish?
Ahahah, as you figured I was just trolling a bit. I cannot resist the "go watch the Transformers instead" retord, you baited me into it. I'm gonna make a t-shirt with it.
I love TTRD and Malick is one of my faves, but I can totally understand people that don't like his style, or your complaints about his use of the cast in this one.
I would want a 4 hours version of TTRD with more footage and more room to get all these various themes. That would fix what you didn't like too.
yeah... truth told, his stuff is just not for me, and that's okay. we're all allowed different tastes. garbage is too strong a word, his films are very competently made just not for my tastes. I've tried nearly all of his, but just don't connect, relate or care, and that pisses me off. but it's ME, not the movie. lots of people like his stuff, and that is cool too.
A lot of people like Transformers, and that is also fine. :)
John C. Reilly is a great actor. I wish he had been featured more, as well, but I guess in these large ensemble pieces, there's not a lot of room for everyone to get a spotlight. I guess that's what happened to both of them.
shareI loved the last sentence "your weak, kid".Then I hesitate to bring this up, but I believe the line is, "They're meat, kid."
"They're meat kid"... Watching right now and thats absolutely what is said. That line in particular is a strong one, i thought there wasn't any way i somehow misheard it. Every line of dialog in this film is important...
shareI think you've summed it up almost perfect. Brody can be an outstanding actor. As good as anyone alive in the right role (The Pianst comes to mind). But in this film what we saw wasn't his best work when he was on camera. And I think seeing more of it, would have seemed out of place.
I have to say one other thing. He's not the only actor who has complained about Malick's editing. But I'm baffled by these actors in that don't they know who they are working with? They have to know going in that Malick will shoot hours and hours of footage, a lot of it almost raw, off the cuff shooting, and make many decisions later based on visual pacing, mood, or emotional flow of the footage. Not typical character arcs and three-act structures that are so pat to Hollywood (Save the Cat). Some people may not like his style of filmmaking, and no one is saying you have to. But while Brody could say he was disappointed he didn't get more screen time, he shouldn't be that surprised either.
Yeah poor him, must suck having an endless supply of money and anything he wants at his fingertips.
shareI was glad to see this thread.
I actually thought at first Brody's character was supposed to be a little mentally challenged, or too shy to speak when addressed.
He has several close ups at poignant moments, but he doesn't speak. Having seen and loved The Pianist I was waiting for something incredible.
By that final sequence I had given up and I thought he would turn out to be the near mute who helped save his unit, but he is really just a conduit for information about Witt's sacrifice.
The camera shots on him prove his character was supposed to have some impact, I guess if they edited out lines, the kept it to the same characters, and in the end marginalized them altogether.
I really agree with you Snappin.
To add: I think his character is representative of the fear felt by many young soldiers. There is a great deal of heart to his role. Even though he barely says a word throughout the film, his performance resonates, because it is true.
"Buy the ticket, take the ride." --Raoul Duke, the great shark hunter
Not sure how someone can be the lead and then cut into a bit part. It's like they don't know which story they want to tell. Either way I'd like to see the other version to see if it's more cohesive than this final cut, which I felt was a mess.
shareYes, I felt the same way. Very messy. If they'd followed the book, from what I understand, it would be completely different. And make more sense.
shareYeah, I'd be pretty devastated if that happened to me. Just imagine a 20 something actor trying to break into Hollywood and suddenly being offered a lead role in a film directed by almost a mythical director making his first film in 20 years. Then imagine being completely cut out of the movie you've probably spent more than a year on and learning that fact at the premiere of the movie. Jesus Christ.
Raging Bull = Best movie
Exactly. My gosh. So devastating. Cut completely out might have hurt less than what they did to his character. They made him look like a moron.
sharei didn't know that.
shareI just recently learned about how he was cut from a lead character to like two lines. That's just crazy. Today he might pull a ScarJo and sue their ass off.
shareHis character was pathetic. Constantly looking like he was about to wet himself. Imagine going into battle and you have soldiers like him in your ranks.
share