A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
Queimada
(as known as Burn!) is a 1969 motion-picture directed by celebrated Italian
moviemaker Gillo Pontecorvo.
Queimada is Pontecorvo’s follow up to his critically acclaimed magnum opus, Battle of Algiers—an
epic war movie based on the events surrounding the Algerian War. Queimada stars American
movie-icon Marlon Brando in
the lead role of a mercenary named Sir William Walker. At the time of its release, Queimada failed at the box-office resulting in huge financial loses. The major reason for movie's failure was the elimination of several politically sensitive scenes from the originally shot material. The scenes were cut primarily to appease the political circles in the movie's potential markets. Pontecorvo had initially wanted to structure his movie around a slave-revolt set in an Spanish colonial island. But, Spain's fascist dictator Francisco Franco objected to the imperialistic portrayal of Spain in the original screenplay and threatened to put a ban on the movie. Daunted by Franco's threat, especially considering the Spanish dictator's ruthless reputation, Ponteocorvo decided to change the movie's setting to a Portuguese island. With its anti-war, anti-racist
themes, Queimada serves to be a powerful political drama that gets better with
each viewing.
The
highlight of the movie, apart from its controversial themes, is undoubtedly Brando’s larger than life portrayal of Sir William Walker. In a career spanning over five decades,
Brando gave a plethora of breathtaking performances which include the tour de
force of a hot-headed brute in A Streetcar Named Desire, the Oscar-winning portrayal
of an ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman trying to fight against the
all-pervasive corruption in On the Waterfront, the
icy portrayal of an outlaw betrayed by his partner in One-Eyed Jacks, the heart-wrenching portrayal
of a recluse widower in Last Tango in Paris,
and the unforgettable portrayal of an aging patriarch of an organised crime dynasty in The Godfather.
Among the myriad of performances that Brando delivered during his long
illustrious career, it’s quite remarkable that he rated his portrayal of an
agent provocateur in Pontecorvo’s Queimada as his best ever. In his
autobiography "Songs My Mother Taught Me", Brando revealed, "I did some of my
best acting in 'Burn!'". Brando also admitted to it during an interview
with Larry King on CNN as the latter, apparently disinterested in discussing a
relatively unknown movie during the precious little time he had with the great
actor, never allowed Brando to justify his choice.
According
to the briefing given to Sir William Walker at the beginning of his journey, Queimada
is the one of the hundreds of islands of the Lesser Antilles. Queimada has a
literal meaning of “Burnt” which it derives from the fact that the Portuguese
once had to burn the island to ashes in order to put an end to the resistance
of the native Indians. Since the indigenes were obliterated during the assault,
slaves were brought from Africa to take care of the sugarcane plantations. Walker, an American mercenary, is hired by the British to instigate the indigenes to help start a
revolution against the Portuguese so that the English nation can exercise its control over the sugar production in the island of Queimada. But, few years later,
when the revolution regurgitates posing a direct threat to the English conquest
of Lesser Antilles, they decide to put an end to it by suppressing the very revolutionaries they had once spawned.
On
the face of it, the movie deals with imperialism of the nineteenth century
wherein colonial superpowers like England enslaved the black in the name of civilizing
them—a seemingly moral obligation that the English laureate Rudyard Kipling so eloquently referred to as
“The White Man’s Burden”.
But, if one digs deeper the tale that
is presented here appears to be both universal as well as timeless. A couple of
centuries back, it was sugar that was perceived as a priced commodity, one that
could make or break a fortune, but in the contemporary context, oil is the commodity
that holds that coveted spot. Such is the power of Queimada that the conflict
depicted in the movie can be aptly applied to several scenarios of past few
decades. While in the movie it is the overambitious English sugar plantation
company that held the actual sway over the Governments of Queimada as well as
Great Britain, today we have petrochemical giants that happen to dictate their
terms to the governments of the world. Queimada serves to be a smack in the
face for all the perpetrators of mankind who have ever tried to exploit or
patronize a certain oppressed section of humanity on the basis of color, creed,
race, caste, sex, or religion.
What
makes Marlon Brando’s portrayal singular is the element of unfathomable complexity
associated with it. Sir William Walker is a ruthless mercenary, a filibuster, an
agent provocateur, who knows no bounds when it comes to fulfilling his mission,
and yet he has a certain element of humaneness that makes him likable. Behind
the facade of a manipulative mercenary there exists a disgruntled,
self-loathing persona trying desperately to escape his overwhelming guilt. Ironically,
every move that he makes takes him deeper and deeper into the quicksand of his
guilt as the escape becomes impossible. Brando’s
William Walker is a cross between a wolf and a sheep, a fiend and a beloved, an
inflictor and a savior, a demon and an angel, a usurper and a guardian, a
misanthrope and an altruist, and a mercenary and a messiah. It is this ambiguity
that makes Brando’s portrayal unique and remarkably magnificent. Walker is a
gifted orator, a master manipulator, an opportunistic pacifier who dresses with
the perfection of a fop. His aristocratic attire offers a striking contrast to
the shabby appearance of the war-torn natives. Interestingly, Pontecorvo wanted Brando's portrayal of Sir William Walker to be out and out bad, but it Brando who insisted on putting up a grey-shaded caricature for Walker.
Vintage
Franco Solinas, Brando, during the course of the movie, gets to deliver some unforgettable
lines, including a monologue in which he expatiates on the economics of using a
paid worker vis-a-vis a slave by comparing it to the advantages of choosing a
prostitute over a wife. However, my most favorite moment comes when Sir William
Walker exhorts the power-hungry politicians of Queimada to offer amnesty to the
guerrilla leader Jose Dolores warning them about the overwhelming power of a
myth in comparison to a man, for unlike a man a myth cannot be killed and only
grows to become a legend. Brando is well supported by the rest of the cast that
mainly consists of Italian actors and amateurs. The team and Marcello Gatti and
Giuseppe Ruzzolini have done wonders to movie’s cinematography as the events
seem to be taking place in front of the eyes rather than on the screen.
Master composer Ennio Morricone’s poignant music greatly complements the movie’s
motifs immensely adding to the beauty and power of the movie.
Overall,
Queimada serves to be a great specimen of filmmaking contributed by a great mix
of direction, acting, screenplay, music, and cinematography. Pontecorvo triumphs in his great attempt to
mock and mourn the plight of the oppressed indigenes during the colonial era
while simultaneously presenting a great parallel to highlight the global crises
post World War-II. Queimada may not serve to be the ideal sort of a cinematic experience
for an average viewer, but it surely caters well to the needs of a thinking viewer
who is not averse to getting out of his/her comfort zone in order to savor
intelligent cinema.
Note: In order to experience Brando's Sir William Walker in all his glory, please stick to the English version only, for the Italian version reportedly suffers from a severe inconsistency of dialogue.
References:
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| Queimada (1969) - By Gillo Pontecorvo |
Our Rating: 9.5
IMDb Ratings: 7.0
Genre: Action | Drama
Cast: Marlon Brando, Evaristo Márquez, Norman Hill
Language: Italian | Portuguese
Country: Italy | France
Language: Italian | Portuguese
Country: Italy | France
Runtime: 115 min
Color: Color
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| Marlon Brando as Sir William Walker in Gillo Pontecorvo's Queimada |
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| The Captain briefs Sir William Walker about Queimada |
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| The Portuguese execute a Guerrilla Rebel named Santiago |
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| Santiago's Widow and Children drag Santigo's Dead Body |
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| Queimada (1969): William Walker and President Sanchez |
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| Queimada: William Walker and Jose Dolores savor English Whisky |
Note: In order to experience Brando's Sir William Walker in all his glory, please stick to the English version only, for the Italian version reportedly suffers from a severe inconsistency of dialogue.
References:
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Brilliant review :) Sadly, I've seen very few movies of Brando and I think its hightime I take out time for this legend. Thanks for this review because now I'm all charged up to watch all his films :)
ReplyDeleteThis obviously is a classic :)
ReplyDeleteIt surely is :-)
ReplyDeleteI am really glad that you find it useful... now we can expect some great reviews of movies starring Marlon Brando from you :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Eric... I feel greatly indebted :-)
ReplyDeleteWe know The Movie Waffler already gave you the Liebster, but we sincerely love your work and learn so much from it, so we wanted to share it with you as well! We hope you come visit to claim it! http://www.twoticketsfor.com/2012/07/the-liebster-award.html
ReplyDeleteThanks... I accept it gleefully :-)
ReplyDeleteAs you know, this is one of my favorite movies and movie soundtracks (I think the latter is more than poignant).
ReplyDeleteNot a bad choice for a movie, I must say!!! The score is indeed up there with Morricone's very best :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing this movie through your wonderful review. I recently watched Queimada and liked it very much (may watch it again soon). The movie is a brilliant study about Colonialism and Capitalism. And really a excellent performance from Brando. It is one of his most measured, considered and subtle performances. I read that the film crew gone through lot of troubles but thank god it was made and released, since we can make many parallels with current events concerning globalization and the role that Multinational Corporations play. Have u seen the 132 minutes restored version?
ReplyDelete