Marlon Brando Colonel Kurtz APOCALYPSE NOW
by Francesco Eunchae: Colonel Kurtz
For APOCALYPSE NOW in 1979, the plan was for Marlon Brando to look gaunt and nearly skeletal as Colonel Kurtz. He arrived at filming significantly overweight though. Director Francis Ford Coppola largely kept Brando in shadow during production instead of reshooting or recasting. Coppola integrated the actor's physical condition into the character's mysterious nature. The decision to use shadow was a response to the weight change rather than the original design.
Transcript (en)
They say why. Well, why they want to terminate my command. I was sent on a classified mission, sir. You're no longer classified. What did they tell you? They told me that you had gone totally insane. And that your methods were unsound Are my methods unsound I don't see any method at all. I expected Someone like you. What did you expect? Are you an assassin? I'm a soldier. You're neither. You're an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.
