Queimada (1969)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Gillo Pontecorvo

Writers:

Franco Solinas (story) &
Giorgio Arlorio (story) ...

Release Date:

21 October 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The man who sells war. The bloodier the battle - the higher the price. He's going to make a fortune on this one.

Plot:

The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada...

Plot Keywords:

Sugar | Island | England | Portuguese | Revolution

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Sir William Walker
Evaristo Márquez	...	José Dolores (as Evaristo Marquez)
Norman Hill	...	Shelton
Thomas Lyons	...	Gen. Alonso Prada
Renato Salvatori	...	Teddy Sanchez
Valeria Ferran Wanani	...	Guarina
Giampiero Albertini	...	Henry Thompson
Carlo Palmucci	...	Jack
Dana Ghia	...	Francesca
Joseph P. Persaud	...	Juanito
Álvaro Medrano	...	Soldier (as Alvaro Medrano)
Alejandro Obregón	...	Engl. Major (as Alejandro Obregon)
Enrico Cesaretti

Also Known As:

Burn! (USA)
The Mercenary (Canada: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and nudity. (2005 re-rating; 1970 rating GP)

Runtime:

Argentina:115 min | Italy:132 min | UK:112 min | USA:112 min | USA:132 min (restored version) | Germany:121 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1971) | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | South Korea:15 | UK:AA (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia

Company:

Europee Associate SAS

Trivia:

Sir William Walker, a real historical figure portrayed in the film by Marlon Brando, was neither British nor knighted. Walker was an American adventurer and his title of "sir" was one he adopted on his own.

Quotes:

Sir William Walker: Gentlemen, let me ask you a question. Now, my metaphor may seem a trifle impertinent, but I think it's very much to the point. Which do you prefer - or should I say, which do you find more convenient - a wife, or one of these mulatto girls? No, no, please don't misunderstand: I am talking strictly in terms of economics...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brando (2007) (TV)

"That's The Logic Of Profit, Isn't It?"

In the 1830's, the island of Quemada in the Antilles is a Portuguese colony - that is, until an English agent provocateur arrives and inspires the black slaves to rise and expel the colonial authorities. However, as is always the way with revolutions, a group of middle-class power brokers seizes political control and the people's aspirations are betrayed.

Ten years pass, and the sugar industry now requires peace and stability on Quemada. The continuing guerilla campaign by the dispossessed blacks is harming profits. The very same English adventurer is once more despatched to the island, this time to hunt down and eradicate the revolutionaries he created.

Marlon Brando plays Sir William Walker in his best Fletcher Christian English accent and a blonde wig with a life of its own. His is a thoughtful performance, putting across the complexity of the man, a character who is undoubtedly cynical and unscrupulous, but who is also an emotional man and something of a political philosopher. He is certainly effective at what he does.

The direction of Gillo Pontecorvo is somewhat erratic at times. There are points where the narrative is confused, and the gold robbery which drives the plot somehow got left on the cutting-room floor. Jose Dolores' rise to power is the most significant event in the story, but we see nothing of it. During the voodoo carnival, two of the participants are wearing 20th-century soccer shorts. The film's central pivot, the passage of ten years between Walker's two visits to the island, is handled very sketchily by means of a few incongruous London scenes and a voice-over narration.

But there are good things, too. When Santiago's widow hauls her husband's body away, the masonry of the fort stands as a silent metaphor of colonial power - harsh, overbearing and sterile. Brando has some fine speeches, musing on the nature of political legitimism. The fire scenes are visually arresting (though it would have sufficed to have two or three guerillas being shot as they emerged from the burning sugar cane: seven or eight is labouring the point), and Walker is positively luminous against the tortured black shapes of the charred forest, showing in symbolic form that this man thrives on the suffering of the blacks, and that destruction is his natural element.