“…You shoulda looked out for me.”
This is one of the finest acting scenes, ever, on film. As Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger play this scene, I am always re-astonished, at how deep they are as actors.
There is so much subtext to this scene, and backstory. And it’s all here.
But, (with another beautiful acting dimension) it’s masked, like we all mask our emotions in our lives, in our relationships. As the truth comes up in a very slow, line-by-line, ascendancy to revelation, these actors give no clues, nor do they seem to be working anything. They are not aware of how this unfolds, and their surprise is as unique as ours.
In the lifetime of these two brothers’ relationship, no doubt, this is the most dramatic day. From the earlier event that they discuss, which destroyed their bond…To this event, where the emotional truth of it is communicated, acknowledging their uncrossable fissure, forever.
It’s a little cab; but Terry Moran’s (Marlon Brando) disappointment, sense of betrayal, loss, fills the world.
