''Burn!'' (original title: ''Queimada'') is a 1969

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

war

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. Set in the mid-19th century, the film stars

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

as a British ''

agent provocateur An agent provocateur () is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, th ...

'' sent to overthrow a Portuguese colony in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

by manipulating a slave revolt to serve the interests of the

sugar trade Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or doubl ...

, and the complications that arise from the formation of a subsequent puppet state. The fictional plot is partly based on the activities of American

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

William Walker, after whom the main character is named, and his 1855 invasion of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...

. Screenwriters

Franco Solinas Franco Solinas (19 January 1927 - 14 September 1982) was an Italian writer and screenwriter. He is best known for the screenplay of '' The Battle of Algiers,'' which was nominated for three Academy Awards. He also wrote the 1969 historical drama '' ...

and Giorgio Arlorio also drew on the experiences of intelligence agent Edward Lansdale, who served the

United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

in the 1950s through the 60s, and the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. The film is an Italian and French co-production by

Alberto Grimaldi Alberto Grimaldi (28 March 1925 – 23 January 2021) was an Italian film producer. Biography Grimaldi was born in Naples and studied law. In 1962 he founded his own production company, P.E.A., and released his first feature film, '' The Shadow ...

, distributed internationally by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. It features a musical score composed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classi ...

Plot

In 1844, the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of i ...

sends Sir William Walker, an ''

'', to the island of Queimada (literally "Burned" or "Burnt"), a

Portuguese colony The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc be ...

. The

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

seeks to open the island to economic exploitation by the Antilles Royal Sugar Company. Walker's task is to organize an

uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

of enslaved Africans against the Portuguese regime, which the British government intend to replace with a government dominated by pliable white

planters Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...

. When he arrives in Queimada, Walker befriends the charismatic José Dolores, whom he entices to lead the slave rebellion, and induces leading landowners to reject Portuguese rule. Dolores's rebellion is successful, and Walker arranges the assassination of the Portuguese governor in a nighttime coup. Walker establishes a puppet regime beholden to the Antilles Company, headed by the idealistic but ineffectual revolutionary Teddy Sanchez. Walker convinces Dolores to recognize the new regime and to surrender his arms, in exchange for the abolition of slavery. Having succeeded in his mission, he moves on to his next assignment in

. In 1848, Doloresdisgusted by the new regime's collaboration with the Antilles Companyleads a second uprising, aiming to expel British influence from Quiemada. After six years of the uprising, in 1854, the Company returns Walker (after finding him in Plymouth, England) to Queimada with the consent of the Admiralty, tasking him with suppressing the revolt and pacifying the island. Resentful of the Company's exploitation of Queimada, President Sanchez is uncooperative. Sanchez is ousted and executed in a coup engineered by Walker, who establishes a regime wholly beholden to the Company. British forces are invited to the island; guided by Walker, they rapidly quell the rebellion and capture Dolores. Walker attempts to save Dolores's life due to their past comradery, but the rebel leader rejects his assistance, asserting that freedom is earned, not received. The government executes Dolores by hanging. Soon after, Walker, guilt-stricken, is accosted as he prepares to depart Queimada. A man greets him just as Dolores did when Walker first arrived on the island, and then stabs him to death. Before dying, Walker looks around and sees himself surrounded by accusatory or passive looks of the poor people in the port.

Cast

Production

''Burn!'' was originally scheduled to be shot entirely in

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

. Troubled working conditions caused the production to run over-schedule and over-budget, leading to

nearly firing Pontecorvo. Marlon Brando insisted the film be finished and paid for the production to be moved to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, where it could be completed for less money. Other scenes were shot at in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Cinecittà Studios.

originally suggested

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

in the role of José Dolores, but Gillo Pontecorvo insisted on casting Evaristo Márquez instead. Marquez was not a professional actor, but an illiterate Colombian herdsman, whom Pontecorvo met while location scouting. Many of the actors were also non-professionals, a neorealist-inspired approach Pontecorvo previously used in ''

The Battle of Algiers ar, Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir , director = Gillo Pontecorvo , producer = Antonio MusuSaadi Yacef , writer = Franco Solinas , story = Franco SolinasGillo Pontecorvo , starring = Jean MartinSaadi YacefBrahim H ...

''. Marlon Brando had the opportunity to have a role on ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'' and '' The Arrangement'' once again with

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

, but chose instead to work on this film. He also had to turn down a major role in '' Ryan's Daughter'' because of this film's production problems. In his autobiography ''Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me'', he claimed: "I did some of my best acting in ''Burn!''". He called Pontecorvo one of the three best directors he ever worked with, alongside Kazan and

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

. In the original script, the (fictional) island of Queimada was a Spanish protectorate, which many of the historical Caribbean colonies were. The Francoist government pressured the filmmakers to alter the script, and since Portugal accounted for a considerably smaller share of international box-office receipts than Spain, the producers did the economically expedient thing by making the Portuguese the villains. The original conceit is still reflected by the characters having Spanish names and speaking the Spanish language. The English-language export cut of the film runs 112 minutes, 17 minutes shorter than the original Italian version. Brando was dubbed by

Giuseppe Rinaldi Giuseppe Rinaldi (14 September 1919 – 15 December 2007) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Rinaldi appeared in more than 20 films between 1939 and 1982. During his time, he was considered of be one of the most greatest and inf ...

for the Italian version. Brando's voice can be heard only in the shorter English-language version.

Reception

The film received critical acclaim in the U.S. and abroad. Based on 11 reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 82%. By comparison, its 2004 re-release was given an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, by

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a rating based on top reviews from mainstream critics.

Natalie Zemon Davis Natalie Zemon Davis, (born November 8, 1928) is a Canadian and American historian of the early modern period. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of History and Anthropology and Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto in C ...

reviewed the film from a historian's perspective and gave it high marks, arguing that it merges historical events that took place in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, and elsewhere.Natalie Zemon Davis, ''Slaves on Screen: Film and Historical Vision'' (2002) ch 3 The Palestinian-American academic

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''Whit ...

(famous for his work ''

Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

'') praised ''Burn!'' (along with Pontecorvo's other film, ''

'') as the two films "...stand unmatched and unexcelled since they were made in the 60s. Both films together constitute a political and aesthetic standard never again equaled." Many critics have interpreted ''Burn!'' within the context of

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, and have praised its raw and unglamorized depictions of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...

, and

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. David N. Meyer wrote for '' The Brooklyn Rail'', "''Burn!'' is a quietly bleak, unflinching presentation of slavery, post-slavery racial hatreds, the role of race in political power and the colonial manipulation of all of the above. Pontecorvo takes on these themes so clearly and directly—while keeping them secondary to the drama of the narrative—that ''Burn!'' becomes a lesson in how few other films ever address them at all." The character José Dolores inspired the logo of the socialist magazine ''

Jacobin , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = P ...

''.

References

External links

*
Detailed review by Amy Taubin

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

The Ecology of Destruction by John Bellamy Foster

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

{{Authority control 1969 films English-language Italian films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s war drama films British Empire war films Films about revolutions Films about slavery Films directed by Gillo Pontecorvo United Artists films Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films set in the Caribbean Films set in London Films set in 1844 Films set in 1854 Films set on fictional islands Films produced by Alberto Grimaldi Italian war drama films Italian multilingual films 1960s multilingual films 1969 drama films Films about coups d'état Italian political drama films French political drama films French war drama films French historical drama films Films shot in Colombia Films shot in Morocco Films shot in France Films shot at Cinecittà Studios 1960s Italian films 1960s French films