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Burn
1969
Manipulative English mercenary Sir William Walker (Marlon Brando) is posted to a Portuguese colony in the Caribbean. Once there he uses his skills to engineer a slave revolt as part of his calculated plans for the English to seize control of the colony. Read more
| Starring | Marlon Brando, Sal Marquez, Renato Salvatori |
|---|---|
| Director | Gillo Pontecorvo |
| Genres | Drama |
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Critics' reviews
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Even at the height of his stardom, Marlon Brando was prepared to take chances by accepting challenging roles. In this attack on colonial manipulation — a period swashbuckler with attitude — he plays a cynical British secret agent who ignites a Caribbean island revolution against the ruling Portuguese, who are using slave labour on a sugar-cane plantation. It's clumsily handled at times by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, who made the remarkable documentary-style epic The Battle of Algiers, but it still has scenes of enormous visual power. Brando is, as they used to say, magnificent, and also a lot slimmer than he is today!
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Most helpful members' reviews (3)
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Burn - difficult film
Like other Pontecorvo films, Burn has the feel almost of a documentary at moments, even though set in the 1840s. The narrative is broken and laconic, with an even surlier Marlon Brando than ever taking a stern and unattractive lead. For realism and information about a
period in Caribbean colonial history (the film reflects events of the times) Burn is fascinating and the film does grip, but sometimes feels a bit unearthly and distant from emotion. -
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Slow Burn
Pontecorvo had made his name with his masterpiece, 'Battle of Algiers' two years earlier and Brando was looking to do someting with more radical political impact then Hollywood could offer him in the mid-sixties. He was to be disappointed with this film, as indeed are audiences. There is an uneven progress to the narrative which suggests funding problems or delays in production. There is a clear political argument of anti-colonialism traceable throughout the film but it never ignites into drama and remains didactic and dull. Brando does a reprise of his Fletcher Christian voice from 'Mutiny on the Bounty' and poses and primps himself as a would-be revolutionary dandy. I'm not sure which I want to end first - capitalist imperialism or this film.
The one highlight is the Ennio Morricone score. -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
a great political mirror to our lives today
a bit out dated with those poor dubbed actors, but don't let it put you off, as this is a wonderful piece of film that reflects on our own current political issues. So sharp that it hurts. If only we would learn our lessons from history in order to make this world better...
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Most recent members' reviews (2)
View all -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
a film revelant to today times
The reason why I rented this film was because I read marlon brando's autobiography.
This film was made during the latter part of his career,he described the torrid time he
had with the director how they nearly killed each other,he even walked out of the film
when this got bad,because he was under contract he had to return.
It was filmed near the equator where the temperatures were unbearable,the director was a very supertisous man and always a thick overcoat in these searing temperatures,
marlon brando remarked this was the best ever film he made ,that's why I wanted to see
it.
On the whole it reminded me of spaghetti western,on how to start a revolution. -
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Burn - difficult film
Like other Pontecorvo films, Burn has the feel almost of a documentary at moments, even though set in the 1840s. The narrative is broken and laconic, with an even surlier Marlon Brando than ever taking a stern and unattractive lead. For realism and information about a
period in Caribbean colonial history (the film reflects events of the times) Burn is fascinating and the film does grip, but sometimes feels a bit unearthly and distant from emotion.
-
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Burn - difficult film
Like other Pontecorvo films, Burn has the feel almost of a documentary at moments, even though set in the 1840s. The narrative is broken and laconic, with an even surlier Marlon Brando than ever taking a stern and unattractive lead. For realism and information about a
period in Caribbean colonial history (the film reflects events of the times) Burn is fascinating and the film does grip, but sometimes feels a bit unearthly and distant from emotion. -
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Slow Burn
Pontecorvo had made his name with his masterpiece, 'Battle of Algiers' two years earlier and Brando was looking to do someting with more radical political impact then Hollywood could offer him in the mid-sixties. He was to be disappointed with this film, as indeed are audiences. There is an uneven progress to the narrative which suggests funding problems or delays in production. There is a clear political argument of anti-colonialism traceable throughout the film but it never ignites into drama and remains didactic and dull. Brando does a reprise of his Fletcher Christian voice from 'Mutiny on the Bounty' and poses and primps himself as a would-be revolutionary dandy. I'm not sure which I want to end first - capitalist imperialism or this film.
The one highlight is the Ennio Morricone score. -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
a great political mirror to our lives today
a bit out dated with those poor dubbed actors, but don't let it put you off, as this is a wonderful piece of film that reflects on our own current political issues. So sharp that it hurts. If only we would learn our lessons from history in order to make this world better...
-
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Good film
Interesting film, which builds as it goes along. Brando puts on a good performance. It is not so easy to understand what feelings really drive the character he plays in this, as it changes throughout the film.
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
a film revelant to today times
The reason why I rented this film was because I read marlon brando's autobiography.
This film was made during the latter part of his career,he described the torrid time he
had with the director how they nearly killed each other,he even walked out of the film
when this got bad,because he was under contract he had to return.
It was filmed near the equator where the temperatures were unbearable,the director was a very supertisous man and always a thick overcoat in these searing temperatures,
marlon brando remarked this was the best ever film he made ,that's why I wanted to see
it.
On the whole it reminded me of spaghetti western,on how to start a revolution. -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Undeservedly neglected
Marlon Brando is superb and this film, though of its time in its reference to the Vietnam War, should be better known for its timeless reflections on terrorism and imperialism. Definitely worth seeing. The score is great as well.
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A really poor movie in every way!
This counts as one of the worst films I have ever seen. It isn’t bad in the way in which a poorly-directed low-budget B or C or D pot-boiler is bad - it’s far worse. It’s worse because it’s a big-budget movie, with obviously large sums spent on the sets, the locations, the costumes and the big-name star, which fails in terms of plot, script, direction, acting, all of which are quite abysmal. It fails even in terms of credibility - the basic story line lacks any reality. This is possibly because of the agit-prop nature of the plot which in the crudest possible way tries to bludgeon the viewer with a not-particularly-subtle message that colonialism is evil. The pace is funereal and the characters are all two-dimensional, stereotypes rather than rounded personalities. The dialogue is downright embarrassing. It’s not wholly clear at any time if any or all of the actors are being dubbed - this included Brando, who speaks in a parody of an English upper-class accent that is so ludicrous as to be laughable. The general air of failure extends even to the accompanying music - until I saw this movie I had mistakenly believed that Morricone was incapable of producing a poor score, but here he manages. Maybe he just identified a bit too much with the general air of incompetence that permeates this disaster of a movie. It’s worth watching only to see just how bad a movie can be.
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Critics' reviews
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Even at the height of his stardom, Marlon Brando was prepared to take chances by accepting challenging roles. In this attack on colonial manipulation — a period swashbuckler with attitude — he plays a cynical British secret agent who ignites a Caribbean island revolution against the ruling Portuguese, who are using slave labour on a sugar-cane plantation. It's clumsily handled at times by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, who made the remarkable documentary-style epic The Battle of Algiers, but it still has scenes of enormous visual power. Brando is, as they used to say, magnificent, and also a lot slimmer than he is today!
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