Three Academy Award nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Laurence Olivier), Best Film Editing, Best Original Score
A thriller with a tinge of science-fiction, The Boys from Brazil is a rather campy romp, and really only enjoyable when seen through this light.
The acting as a whole is pretty awful, with a plethora of supporting and cameo roles from wooden actors giving just wretched performances. At the centre are acting legends Laurence Olivier and Gregory Peck, who chew through the scenery and are clearly having a good time. It's an infectious attitude, and with a strong supporting turn from another legend James Mason, it's a breezy entertainment.
Olivier managed to nab an Oscar nomination for his role as aging Austrian Nazi-hunter Ezra Lieberman, and it's not entirely without merit. For the first stretch, his character may seem a bit too much with his thick accent and overt mannerisms, but by the end it's a lived-in role. We view Lieberman not as a caricature --which he seems to be at the start-- but instead as a fully fleshed, if eccentric, character. But the star here is Gregory Peck as Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi "Angel of Death". As a physician in Auschwitz, Mengele performed many human experiments and murdered thousands of prisoners, his research focussing on heredity, twins and abnormalities. They're a powerful acting duo, and are clearly trying to 'one up' another to see who can have the juicier performance.
Schaffner's film is a bit deranged, which I think is a given considering the material: the clones of Adolph Hitler being born around the world, and now a plan to murder the adoptive fathers. Why? To mirror the adolescence of Hitler himself, whose father died at 65, and ensure similar environmental conditions.
I see...
Of course, it's a ludicrous plan, as much as they try to make it seem legitimate with a scientist explaining (pretty accurately) the process of cloning.
Science!
But of course, the flaw is in the environmental conditioning: the good old argument of nature vs. nurture. This, of course, is why Mengele goes with 94 clones instead of just a few: quantity. Sure, it may ignore the political, ideological and economic conditions of Hitler's childhood, but at least one will turn out the same, right?
Unfortunately, Jeremy Black's performance as the Hitler clones is just about one of the worst performances I've seen from an A-list Hollywood film. "But Andrew, he's just a kid!" Yes, and a kid with zero acting chops. His attempts at a British accent are hilarious.
"Dohn't you understAAAhnd, you AHHHHss?"
In his German form, he's a budding Nazi youth with a clarinet, practically screaming at his mother and on the edge of muttering some Ayrian supremacy. But I must admit that he is one creepy looking kid, with that jet black hair and piercing blue eyes.
I mean, just look at the bastard.
James Mason is a lone bastion of restraint in the bunch, which is remarkable considering his character: a suave, urbane and even effeminate Nazi. I've always though that Mason is one of the greatest actors of his generation, and if he can manage to bring some hint of depth and even subtlety to something like The Boys from Brazil? Well, kudos to you, good sir.
Easily his most fabulous role, darling.
But the film is primarily a golden artifact of camp. I mean, just take this exchange, which clearly counts as one of the greatest in Peck's career:
"Shut up, you ugly bitch."
Or this insert, with a Hitler clone cackling wildly as his mother discovers two dead bodies upstairs:
"NAAAAANCY! NAAAAANCY! HAHAHAHAHA"
And seriously, who takes the time to write the name of your archenemy on the board, menacingly askew?
"KAAAAAAAHHHHHN!"
So it's certainly an entertaining flick, with a trio of great actors giving flashy performances and a pretty bonkers narrative. But it doesn't help Schaffner's reputation in my eyes, whom I've found to be a pretty mediocre director. Patton was helped by Scott's legendary performance and a decent script by Coppola, but otherwise, I'm not finding much to praise.
What else? Jerry Goldsmith's score seems to be in on the campiness, with its main waltz motif almost sarcastic in its playfulness. The editing is remarkably clunky, surprising given Robert Swink's pretty fantastic filmography. Steve Guttenberg (whom you may remember from Three Men and a Baby) is simply wretched in his (thankfully) brief performance as a rookie Nazi hunter who uncovers the big plan.
B+
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