Another exceptional artist of the old school has departed the premises.
Yet another individual of whom we can accurately say: his kind won’t (can’t) grace our presence in the future.
A nice, detailed overview of Maximilian Schell’s rich life can be found HERE.
Naturally, every account of his life will highlight the Oscar he brought home for his role in the classic Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).
Not only was this his golden moment, his brief and gracious words reveal what a humble, gently intense man he was. For further evidence, check out this quote (from the aforementioned NYT article):
Ultimately, Mr. Schell evolved into an international character actor — distinguished and perhaps a bit world-weary. “The world doesn’t change. The balance of evil will always be the same,” he said in an interview with The New York Times in 2001, when he was preparing to appear in a stage version of “Judgment at Nuremberg.” “I think all the poets and artists have always written for peace and love, and it hasn’t changed much in the last two or three thousand years. But we hope.”
Being of a younger generation, I came to Schell later in his career. The two performances that stand out to me, both from movies I adore, evince his range and depth. In the first, from The Freshman –a platform for Marlon Brando to take the piss out his most famous role and have fun doing it– Schell has some brief, but delightful scenes as the wonderfully named Larry London. This hilarious clip proves that Schell, by all accounts a serious man, did not take himself, or his craft, too seriously.
The second clip (unfortunately there are no adequate scenes available via YouTube) is a decidedly more serious turn in a very underrated movie (Schell and Tim Roth both doing career work), Little Odessa.
As is so often the case, a very good-to-great screenplay can be elevated incalculably by an ideal cast. By luck or fate, virtually every role in Little Odessa is perfectly matched by actors up to the task, including Edward Furlong, who is best known for his histrionics in the very overrated Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Roth, as he was able to do seemingly without effort in his early years, lets the role absorb him and he, inexplicably, transforms his accent from British into Brighton Beach. Schell, on the other hand, brings experience and gravitas that only a man who has seen a great deal of joy, pain and injustice can conjure. In a sense, he is even bigger than the role, because however well-written, on the page we can’t hear or especially see the ways a human being invests a character with…humanity. In one of the more devastating scenes you’ll ever see, Schell confronts his wayward son (Roth) and we watch the spirit, all vitality and hope, just leave his body. It’s something slightly beyond acting, and it stays with you. For me, this is the role I’ll always associate with Schell, if for no other reason because I return to it almost annually. It’s not a pleasant watch, but it’s a necessary one.
That’s the ultimate mark of someone who used his skills and time wisely, and did what he was meant to do while he was here. R.I.P., Maximilian.
