Morituri

This is a remake from a German film, it was made seventeen years prior to this movie, and it was the first German film made after the war which was about the Second World War. This enjoyable WWII film has a brilliant script , original, precise, forceful , with intensity difficult to perceive . The title "Morituri" is Latin which can be translated as "we who are about to die", from the traditional salute of Roman gladiators in the arena, "Morituri Te Salutamus" , We, who are about to die, salute you! . World War II, espionage, adventure and human lives have never before been combined so explosively . It deals with a German called Rober Crain (Marlon Brando) living in India during World War II is blackmailed by the English (Trevor Howard along with Brando appeared in Mutiny on the Bounty in 1962 and were to appear again years later in Superman) to impersonate an SS officer , he aboard a freighter captained by Mueller (Yul Brynner) with a dangerous assignment . His mission is to locate and disarm the scuttling charges in order to prevent Mueller from scuttling the gunboat and its cargo upon interception by the British fleet . As the allied spy attempts to persuade German boat captain to surrender his vessel .

It's not the ordinary World War II spy movie , has an interesting as well as gripping screenplay without mannerisms , though is sometimes slow-moving and overlong . The improvisations throughout history , traps the writer to throw , the short dialogues and surprises rise the action . Sensational interpretations , where all the characters are equally evil in their intentions . Brando plays a Nazi soldier in this film as he had done so in the earlier ¨The young lions¨(1958) for 20th Century Fox, both movies being filmed in black-and-white and both being for made for the same studio. Yul Brynner -is no surprise- magnificent , the film's marketing boasted the surname alliteration of Brando and Brynner . A very support cast such as gorgeous Janet Margolin as Jewish Esther , Trevor Howard as Colonel Statter , Martin Benrath as Kruse , Hans Christian Blech as Donkeyman and William Redfield as Baldwin and Wally Cox as Dr. Ambach

Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Conrad Hall ("Road to Perdition" 2002, "In Cold Blood" 1967,) . Evocative as well thrilling musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith (Planet of apes , Patton) , full of nuances and details make a lovely movie. The motion picture was professionally directed by Berhard Wicki . He was a notorious stage actor , producer , filmmaker and secondary player . Wicki, who was clown before he became a soldier, stole food for and entertained his French prisoners while they waited to find out if they would be executed. He imprisoned for ten months at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp because of his earlier affiliation with the communist party. Started directing films from 1958 . Best known for his anti-war film ¨The Bridge¨ (1959) and subsequently ¨ Morituri¨. This movie bombed at the box-office upon initial release , it is believe that the film's title was not understood by the public . As such, when re-released, the film was re-named "Saboteur: Code Name Morituri"

In 1942 Japan, the Germans are desperate to open the shipping lanes between Japan and Germany. German Captain Mueller (Yul Brynner) is still being blamed for having a drink before getting torpedoed in his last assignment. He is bitter at his son's treatment by the military brass. There is a shortage of manpower and Mueller is forced to take on prisoners pressed into service. He is transporting a valuable load of rubber destine to supply the German war machine for three full months. In India, German deserter Robert Crain (Marlon Brando) is recruited by British intelligence. They expect any approach by the Allies would immediately set Mueller to scuttle the ship. While pretending to be an SS official, Crain is tasked with surreptitiously disabling the scuttling charges and thereby securing the cargo for the American Navy.

The sneaking around in the bowels of the ship is not the most compelling. The secret meeting with the German prisoners is when the drama really starts. There is a bit of awkwardness with Mueller's views. One would expect him to hide his disdain much better. I like the interrogation scene with the two visiting officers. The problem does resolve itself pretty quickly and I really like the hospital ship reveal. It's a compelling fight to the finish. Brando is doing well. Brynner is acting a little too much although his role is calling for it. The action could be better. Overall, it's a solid thriller.

Morituri (1965)

I had no expectation here. The name was odd. And the description was odd--a WWII film from the point of view of the enemy. Sort of. And so I didn't really think I'd be fully captive.

And I was. This is a special film war film. For one thing it has Marlon Brando being his arrogant best, and Yul Brynner, too. It presents an odd dramatic situation, a tension between strong willed characters who don't quite know what the other is up to. Here I mean Brando playing a German plant on this ship going from Japan to Europe, and Brynner, the captain, a disgruntled German with some experience both with the wheel and the bottle.

The ship is a modern (1942) Japanese ship, and among the crew are a bunch of political prisoners, who of course can't be totally trusted. The cargo is rubber, the most sought after material in the early war (later it would be uranium, I suppose).

Cinematographer Connie Hall is quite aggressive and brilliant with his photography, keeping the angles and movement nearly constant. The light is dramatic, the sharpness clean. And he got nominated for an Oscar for his work. The interior of the ship is large and filled with strange turns, great heights, lots of interior and exterior spaces that take you by surprise. Beautiful stuff.

The plot moves more quickly than you'd expect, too, with little surprises and turns, like finding a burning American ship at night and rescuing survivors. One of these is a young woman who was born in Berlin and they question her--why is a German on an enemy ship? And she says she is not German. And they ask what is she? You expect here that she might say she was American, but even better she says, "I am anti-German."

The script is tight and believable. The scenario, which is not formed from fact as far as I could discover (it's based on a novel), seems reasonable. And it ends up being more subtle than you'd expect. Yes, there are aspects that are obvious dramatic additions--the one woman who appears, for example, happens to be Jewish--but these end up being ways of showing people's characters. Ultimately that's what this movie is about.

One of the many things this great (but at the time overlooked) movie did was to indirectly dispel some of the mislaid blame laid on Brando for the excesses of "Mutiny on the Bounty". Here he is again working with Trevor Howard (Bligh in "Mutiny")whom the press said loathed Brando (although Howard himself came to Brando's defense during the "Mutiny" blame game. Also, here is Brando again working with Aaron Rosenburg (also from "Mutiny") whom the press clippings claimed would never work with Brando again. By all accounts, all associated with Morituri got along famously and were all on their best professional behavior. This is one of Marlon's better works during the 1960's and it is sad that the Critic's were so eager to pounce upon it. It is one of those rare films that has grown better with age. Thankfully it is out now on DVD and given the treatment it deserves.

Morituri is by no means a flawless masterpiece, but it is a good film. The problem is, because of a somewhat intricate plot you have to watch it a couple of times to understand it. Some parts of the film are dull, especially some of the engine room scenes where there is relative silence--only the noise of the engine room is heard, but it is also gripping at times. I decided to give this film another shot-and I'm glad I did. I found that it is quite interesting, after you watch it a couple of times you understand the purpose of Brando's character in the film. He is great in this film, his accent is flawless and he looks just great--I wish he would have done more action-oriented films. The cinematography is also great, and I absolutely loved the musical score. Hopefully, people will give this movie a chance and see that Brando did do a few good films in the 60's and stop giving him a bum rap.