Dying : a story of sinking and Nazis
Directed by Bernhard Wicki, Dying (1965) is, on paper, a rather original war film. Based on the novel of the same name by Werner Jörg Lüddecke, the feature film tackles the Second World War by focusing its story on a Nazi-controlled cargo ship. Captain Müller (Yul Brynner), charged with guarding the vessel while it was carrying a load of rubber, was ordered to destroy it in case of attack. This is obviously not what the allies want. It is for this reason that the British secret services send Robert Crain (Marlon Brando), a German pacifist who defected at the start of the war. The latter is then forced to infiltrate the ship to try to prevent it from sinking.
There he discovers that Captain Muller is much more complex than he thought. A true German patriot, but whose humanist values are in contradiction with the Nazis. It is precisely this complexity of the characters that makes it interesting Dying AND contributes to the suspense of the film. Because in addition to Captain Muller there is first officer Kruse (Martin Benrath), a true fanatic who closely monitors his superior. As is Esther (Janet Margolin), a German Jew who was raped and tortured before being taken prisoner. The film thus brings together a varied crew and protagonists who never know if they can really trust each other.
One of Marlon Brando’s many commercial failures
The originality of the scenario e Great performance by Marlon Brando they weren’t enough to convince at that moment. The actor had in fact been praised by several critics. But this didn’t stop Dying to be a commercial failure. Made on a budget of over $6 million, the equivalent of $60 million today, the film needed to gross at least $10.5 million in revenue to become profitable. In the end he only earned a little more than $4 million. So it was a significant financial loss for 20th Century Fox who distributed it Dying. But this was not Marlon Brando’s only failure during this period.
In fact, shortly before Morituri, the actor had acted The bad American (1963) e The Seducers (1964) which reported nothing else. And later she participated other business failures. The actor then appeared less and less interested in his work, even declaring in an interview that he didn’t know what he wanted to do. But a few years later, The Godfather (1972) marked a turning point and relaunched Marlon Brando’s career.
Finally, for Dyingthere was a guide to consolation prizes two Oscar nominations in 1966for best black and white photography and best costumes.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
