Morituri Marlon Brando is impressive as usual in this gripping World War II espionage drama. He plays a German deserter who is blackmailed into working for British intelligence. He then boards a blockade runner disguised as a Gestapo officer in hopes of claiming its cargo of rubber for the Allied forces. Brando has some terrific scenes playing psychological cat-and-mouse with the ships captain played by Yul Brynner.
Anyway, it's a film mostly about the conflicts between duty and beliefs. Brando's character views war as useless, while Brynner has managed to see the war turn people into merciless fanatics, including his very own son. He's a patriotic German, but he has no love for the Nazi's and what they've done to his country.
There were three major scenes that really stand out and two of them involved Janet Margolin, who plays a Jewish prisoner. The first is when Brando confronts her over the Gestapo. " You-You-You have no idea what these people are capable of," he tells her. She responds with just a shot to your heart, responding as someone who is brimming with so much hatred and vengefulness that she can no longer even accept human compassion. She is a broken person.
The second scene belongs to Yul Brynner: the radio has just said that his son has sunk an enemy vessel....everybody comes over to congratulates him and one of the crew grabs a navy book to know what this sunk ship looks like..and in 5 seconds we see Yul's face turning from happiness to bitterness..the ship his son sunk was an Hospital Ship. Brynner then proceeds to get himself completely wasted and then destroys his quarters, screaming " Hail Cannibals!" Then there is just one moment that is simply a "Holy Sh*t" moment. It is so horrific and disgusting that it literally shocks you to the core. The look on Brando's face pretty much sums it up.
Anyway, it's a film mostly about the conflicts between duty and beliefs. Brando's character views war as useless, while Brynner has managed to see the war turn people into merciless fanatics, including his very own son. He's a patriotic German, but he has no love for the Nazi's and what they've done to his country.
There were three major scenes that really stand out and two of them involved Janet Margolin, who plays a Jewish prisoner. The first is when Brando confronts her over the Gestapo. " You-You-You have no idea what these people are capable of," he tells her. She responds with just a shot to your heart, responding as someone who is brimming with so much hatred and vengefulness that she can no longer even accept human compassion. She is a broken person.
The second scene belongs to Yul Brynner: the radio has just said that his son has sunk an enemy vessel....everybody comes over to congratulates him and one of the crew grabs a navy book to know what this sunk ship looks like..and in 5 seconds we see Yul's face turning from happiness to bitterness..the ship his son sunk was an Hospital Ship. Brynner then proceeds to get himself completely wasted and then destroys his quarters, screaming " Hail Cannibals!" Then there is just one moment that is simply a "Holy Sh*t" moment. It is so horrific and disgusting that it literally shocks you to the core. The look on Brando's face pretty much sums it up.