IMDb plot summary: The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.
Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, and Joseph Wiseman.
I knew very little about Zapata or about the Mexican revolution going into this film, but it sounds like director Elia Kazan really did his homework to try to capture this story. I do want to mention the fact that many of the central characters are played by white people, though I did learn that Anthony Quinn was Mexican-American, which was fun. The story, however, is a powerful and interesting one, despite its outdated casting practices. Zapata is a messy character, especially in the interactions we see between him and his romantic partner, but he seems to be the only one able to resist the temptation to use his power for personal gain. As he has to step up over and over again to use his influence to kick out a corrupt politician, you see him losing faith in the idea that he'll ever be able to stop fighting. The final scenes of this movie however make this a hopeful story, not a despairing one. It's a fairly well-crafted movie about a subject I didn't know much about, but I don't know that it would hold up to multiple viewings.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Viva Zapata! > To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Viva Zapata! < Chronicle
Viva Zapata! < Harakiri
Viva Zapata! < Holiday Inn
Viva Zapata! > 21
Viva Zapata! > Heaven Knows What
Viva Zapata! > Pather Panchali
Viva Zapata! < Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)
Viva Zapata! > Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Viva Zapata! > The Master
Viva Zapata! > Alice (1990)
Final spot: #1463 out of 3311, or 56%. That seems low but The Chart Does Not Lie.
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