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Well made film from Elia Kazan starring Marlon Brando as Zapata who helped with a Mexican uprising in the early 20th century. Brando did a great job as Zapata and Anthony Quinn did a very good job as his brother (which won him an Oscar). The score wa... (read more) Well made film from Elia Kazan starring Marlon Brando as Zapata who helped with a Mexican uprising in the early 20th century. Brando did a great job as Zapata and Anthony Quinn did a very good job as his brother (which won him an Oscar). The score was very good and it had a good pace to it. I liked the scene near the end when they come to Zapata to complain about Quinn, I'm sure if it was made today they'd make it much more obvious what was happening. The ending was very good as well.

i grew up knowing brando as an old man in "the godfather" and "apocalypse now" so i've been making an effort to watch his earlier works recently. in this he plays a historical and revolutionary figure of mexico. i'm not sure about the veracity of the... (read more) i grew up knowing brando as an old man in "the godfather" and "apocalypse now" so i've been making an effort to watch his earlier works recently. in this he plays a historical and revolutionary figure of mexico. i'm not sure about the veracity of the events portrayed in this movie but it is entertaining. great performances by brando and anthony quinn.

At first he doesn't look much like we remember him - Marlon Brando appears as his Mexican Emiliano Zapata with a stern face at the Mexico Priesidente demanding, simply, land rights and making sure boundaries can be drawn. His name is circled on the ... (read more) At first he doesn't look much like we remember him - Marlon Brando appears as his Mexican Emiliano Zapata with a stern face at the Mexico Priesidente demanding, simply, land rights and making sure boundaries can be drawn. His name is circled on the President's desk, not a good sign, and from here on in Zapata is fighting and fighting (what one character says is as simple as it is - it's all he knows) so that the farmers can have their land, as opposed to time and patience, to grow their corn with.

When Brando first appears as this revolutionary figure he doesn't quite look like himself, and at the same time does very much, and it's disarming. I didn't buy it entirely in the first scene... and then the scenes kept coming, and Brando, playing Zapata as stubborn and headstrong and without much in way of a sense of humor as a leader as a General (and rightfully so as revolutionary figures tend to be, see Che for more details), is spot on. It's worthy of the rest of his ouevere at the time, if not quite up to the monolithic status of Streetcar and Waterfront then at least as good if not better than the underrated The Wild One. This is vintage Brando every step of the way, absorbing us in this figure who reminds us all why it's necessary to have such heroes - but also the lacerating side of the double-edged sword where-in those in power will do all they can to destroy the hero. That and, well, revolutions and movements of ideas amongst people end up turning things pretty damn bittersweet; just look at the very end for that, as four peasants talk of Zapata's status as an idea as well as a man.

Viva Zapata! presents Mexico in some fresh and amazing cinematography, sturdy and sometimes clever and heartfelt direction from Elia Kazan, always best with his actors (even Anthony Quinn who again proves why he was best as taking on an ethnicity and making it believable, if only up to a point as his powerhouse turn shows here), and some very interesting writing from John Steinbeck. The script sometimes takes its turns and movements that don't make it quite flow as well as it would in a book; indivual scenes are knock-outs, mini-masterpieces of words exchanged with underlying meaning or trying to find the meaning in how people can persevere, or not as it turns out (one such scene I loved is when Zapata has been installed as the President- as Pancho Villa says there's "no one else"), and the farmers he says he knows comes and demands the same things he did once before, but at a personal price.

There's lots of great things like that, or just the uncomfortable but true rapor between Zapata and his future-wife's family when they talk in metaphors. If only Steinbeck didn't sometimes jerk the story ahead without some warning (it will be hard to explain, you just have to see it to understand, though this may have more to do with the direction than writing, more research is needed for this assumption) it would be unstoppable as a classic. As its tands though Viva Zapata! is an essential chronicle of a rebel with a cause, an honest man of principles who tried to do too much good in a country where it just wasn't possible. Or, perhaps, things like this just aren't possible; one can see the parallels and maybe even find this to be like a condensed version of Soderbergh's Che in taking a sobering look at the sweet highs and sobering lows of rising up against the powers that be (and yes, this is quite the leftist movie, all the more odd considering it's John McCain's favorite film!)

its a classic. a great film, but this is drowned by the other 2 punches from brando kazan - streetcar and waterfront.
what performances by all. Quinn won a supporting actor oscar and brando got nominated. But Watch brando in his 3rd film to realise t... (read more) its a classic. a great film, but this is drowned by the other 2 punches from brando kazan - streetcar and waterfront.
what performances by all. Quinn won a supporting actor oscar and brando got nominated. But Watch brando in his 3rd film to realise that he is the ultimate actor.