Some literature really does live up to its hype!

And so do some actors. :)

I fell in love with Shakespeare in high school when I discovered that he really was as good as everyone made him out to be. After all, Dickens didn't do much for me. Neither F. Scott Fitzgerald nor J.D. Salinger made me want to read everything they had read. But Shakespeare! *happy sigh*

Recently, I've discovered someone else who lived up to his hype. Marlon Brando.

As a Gen Xer, my main exposure to Marlon Brando was his post-Godfather work. I couldn't see what the critics were talking about. To a young child, he mumbled, shuffled, lumbered, and was basically was kind of disturbing. I didn't see what made him the revolutionary actor every critic raved about.

I saw Guys and Dolls a month ago (my love for over the top musicals came from my mother), and found my interest piqued by Brando.

This week, I watched Julius Caesar.

Here was the charisma and the boldness everyone raved about! His physical beauty surprised me (and boy, did the director show that off, over and over). No mumbling at all. Instead, his portrayal made Antony both passionate and deliberate, both heroic and manipulating. He dared to speak his lines with unexpected emphasis and rhythm.

I was smitten.

I expected the amazing performances from James Mason (one of my cinema idols), John Gielgud, and Louis Calhern. Delightfully, all of them brought their A-game. Instead of Brando dominating the screen, the entire cast brought out the best in each, James Mason, normally so cool and graceful, infused Brutus with a compassion and warmth I didn't expect. John Gielgud, always dignified, showed me an envious and grasping Cassius who was also entirely human.

I think I will have to base a book on these performances. Something unexpected and surprising and hopefully worthy of these, my literary and action idols.

I'm sure I will fail, but the trying alone will be worth every minute!