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.
怎么不叫burn的？
简单而有力的故事，知名度却不高，算得上影史遗珠了吧。白兰度作为殖民者的代言人，导演了一场政变、又镇压了一场政变，他一手培养起来的革命者多洛雷斯被捕后对押送他的黑人士兵说：“如果他们让我活下去就代表这对他们有利，如果活着对他们有利，那我还是死了更好。”对殖民主义赤裸裸的批判。莫里康内给这部电影写那段《Abolicao》绝对是他众多作品里的上乘之作，虽然以前已听过无数次，但在电影里听到，还是激动万分。
完全不是西部片（不过左棍西部片确实也能用这套设定）。一个帝国主义外国代理人的工作实录，语汇过于直白了一些，优点是加勒比海群演与烧山等场面浩浩荡荡快成半部民俗大片了；白兰度的表演是我见过的最内敛的一次，这个角色跟《烽火怪杰》是一个威廉沃克但这里他政治策划力一流也很欣赏黑人领袖但却依然厌世地完成着自己的任务，比叛舰喋血记里面演浮夸的克里斯蒂安迷人多了。Renato抹黑了脸演混血太勉强啦。黑哥面相特别英...
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 th...
早两年前买的碟看，看一半卡死了，后来就再也没找到资源，今天终于看完了，到底没有失望，根据加勒比地区的法属瓜德罗普发生的政变为蓝本编写的故事，来来回回十年恩怨，文明与战争，独立与奴役穿插其中，起伏节奏不错，OST有一种野生的粗略美，查了下果然是莫里康尼大神的手笔！应该是被忽略的佳作。
