Burn!
Queimada
1969 · Italy, France · 129 min
- Director
- Gillo Pontecorvo
- Screenplay
- Franco Solinas
- Producer
- Alberto Grimaldi
- Music
- Ennio Morricone
- Cinematography
- Marcello Gatti
- Editing
- Mario Morra
- Production company
- United Artists
Cast
What it is about
In 1844, the British Admiralty sends William Walker to the Portuguese colony of Queimada in the Caribbean, with the task of stirring a slave revolt that will serve British sugar interests. Walker gains the trust of José Dolores, the charismatic leader of the uprising, and the film traces the consequences of a power imposed from outside on a population with little say over its own future.
How it was made
Produced by Alberto Grimaldi and distributed by United Artists, the film was shot in several countries after schedule and budget problems: the original plan of filming entirely in Cartagena, Colombia, was abandoned, and Marlon Brando helped move part of the shoot to Morocco. Gillo Pontecorvo, who had used non-professional actors in The Battle of Algiers, cast Colombian herdsman Evaristo Márquez, who had no acting training, as Dolores. Ennio Morricone composed the score.
Reception and legacy
Critics in the United States and Europe were largely favorable, and the film has since been read in the context of the Cold War and the Vietnam War for its raw portrayal of colonialism and slavery. Edward Said placed it alongside The Battle of Algiers as a political and aesthetic benchmark. Some reviewers, however, found its style more discursive than dynamic.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
A herdsman as lead
Evaristo Márquez, who plays José Dolores, was an illiterate Colombian herdsman whom Pontecorvo met while scouting locations. Grimaldi had earlier proposed Sidney Poitier for the role.
From Spanish protectorate to Portuguese colony
In the original script the island was a Spanish protectorate. The Francoist government pressured the filmmakers to change this, and the producers made the Portuguese the villains, though the characters kept Spanish names.
More films by Gillo Pontecorvo
The Battle of Algiers
Kapò
Ogro
The Wide Blue Road
The WindroseOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.