Viva Zapata!

Fought through the 1910s, the Mexican Revolution produced several heroic, notable, and even infamous historical figures. The name most people know – or at least have heard of – is Pancho Villa, a revolutionary leader who fought the Mexican Army in Northern Mexico. A name that may not be as well known, Emiliano Zapata, did as much if not more than Villa but hasn’t been as easily remembered. In 1952, Zapata’s exploits were turned into an award-winning film, Viva Zapata!

Who better to play an infamous revolutionary leader than….Marlon Brando?  One of the all-time greats in Hollywood as an actor, Brando played an eclectic, off-the-wall variety of characters in his career. He played Southern hotheads, a German soldier, a rogue American general, a Mafia head of a family, and so many more. So does a Mexican revolutionary sound so far off base? He’s an interesting choice to play Zapata, the only negative coming from an odd make-up choice to make Brando’s eyes appear…Asian? Eh, minor detail.

A poor Mexican farmer in southern Mexico, farmer Emiliano Zapata (Brando) is one of thousands of poor peasants upset with how the government takes advantage of them whenever possible. When their land is scooped up by the government, Emiliano and his brother, Eufemo (Anthony Quinn), join the fighting that has swept the country. Zapata doesn’t fight for glory or fame or riches, just for the people’s rights so they can be treated like human beings. But with so much power on the line, Zapata finds that anyone and everyone must question their own beliefs, choosing between their wants and their needs.

You know what’s a good sign that a movie has a lasting impact? A whole subgenre is named after one person, and in the case here, one movie. After ‘Viva’ was released in 1952, revolutionary westerns started popping up in theaters more and more over the next 20 or so years. Think The Wild Bunch, The Professionals, Villa Rides! and many more. This was one of the first, and it’s a good one, setting the groundwork for the many that would follow, all the characters, story twists, and plotlines there for the taking.

Now 100 years removed from the actual incidents these movies portray, historians now question how revolutionaries like Villa and Zapata have been remembered. Were they heroes or murderers? Directed by Elia Kazan, ‘Viva’ leans toward the hero angle, going as far as building Brando’s Zapata up to almost God-like proportions. It’s never obnoxious or goes too far, but you certainly notice. Brando does a phenomenal job portraying Zapata in a way that doesn’t make the revolutionary tedious or one-note. He’s an illiterate, poor farmer who wants something else for the people and himself. He’s willing to sacrifice it all to accomplish that mission. Brando was nominated for an Academy Award for his part, losing to Gary Cooper in High Noon, but that doesn’t take away from an impressive performance.

Like any historical epic, this movie must deal with a delicate issue. How do you condense 15-20 years of history into a 2-hour movie? ‘Viva’ does a fair job of hitting all the key points of Zapata’s involvement in the revolution, his rise and fall more or less. The first half of the movie struggles some to build any momentum, the rhetoric of the revolution bogging the story down some. The subplot with Zapata marrying Josefa (Jean Peters) doesn’t serve much of a purpose either as it tries to humanize the revolutionary. The pacing picks up in the far superior second half as the revolution takes its toll on Zapata and his army, the conflict becoming fiercer, the battles bloodier, the betrayals and backstabbing more familiar with no end in sight.

Originally expected to play Zapata, Anthony Quinn had to “settle” playing the revolutionary’s brother. Call it fate, but Quinn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor while Brando was only nominated. It’s not a great performance – Quinn had much better – but it reflects the times and who won at the Oscars. It is a big, loud part where Quinn is allowed to chew the scenery and ham it up, a passionate, driven revolutionary who starts to see that everything isn’t as it is made out to be. Another very solid supporting part comes from Joseph Wiseman as Hernando, a somewhat mysterious revolutionary who seems obsessed with winning this fight, seeing what Zapata means to the revolution, not as a person but for what he represents. Also look for an uncredited Henry Silva as Hernando, a peasant and fighter who joins Zapata late in the revolution and Frank Silvera as Victoriano Huerta.

Naturally because this is a positively reviewed movie and generally well respected by critics and fans alike, it is available in absolutely NO formats, no VHS, DVD, or Blu-Ray. It’s been a ‘Save’ option on Netflix for over a year in my queue. So if you can track a copy down, it’s well worth it. Beautiful black and white photography, strong performances from the three leads, and an interesting story about a revolution with no easy answers. Check out four clips HERE at TCM's website.

Viva Zapata ß-trailer (1953): ***/****