Queimada - Island of Terror

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Movie
German title Queimada - Island of Terror
Original title Burn!
Country of production Italy , France
original language English
Publishing year 1969
length 129 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Gillo Pontecorvo
script Franco Solinas
Giorgio Arlorio
production Alberto Grimaldi
music Ennio Morricone
camera Marcello Gatti
cut Mario Morra
occupation

Queimada - Insel des Schreckens (International Title: Burn! ) Is a 1969 feature film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and starring Marlon Brando . The plot serves as an abstract example of the machinations of the European overseas trading companies in the colonies in the 18th and 19th centuries against the background of the social and political tensions that still exist today in developing and emerging countries.

action

Sir William Walker, an agent of the British government, was dispatched to the fictional Caribbean island of Queimada in the Lesser Antilles in the mid-19th century . Their primeval forests had been burned down by the Portuguese colonists to destroy the native settlers, from which the name of the island, which means "burned", arose. On the island, sugar cane is grown on large plantations by slaves . Walker is supposed to arrange the overthrow of the Portuguese colonial government, the goal is financial gain from the sugar cane production for the British kingdom.

First, Walker made contact with the island's upper class, who were dissatisfied with the high Portuguese taxes. Walker quickly succeeds in convincing the aristocrats of the advantages of free government in terms of higher trade profits. He then trains the charismatic slave José Dolores to become the leader of the slave movement. The armed struggle against the Portuguese authorities is, Walker explains to the slaves, the first step towards freedom. Together with Dolores, he takes on a secret arms shipment from the British government. During Carnival , the slaves can overwhelm the few Portuguese soldiers in the fortress, which also houses the colonial government. After the Portuguese governor is assassinated, the aristocrat Teddy Sanchez takes over the government. Dolores realizes that he was only a means to an end. Walker has done his job and is returning to Britain.

A few years later he returned to the island as agent for the British sugar trading company. The situation here is chaotic and the slaves revolt because their situation has worsened under the new regime. Walker is supposed to put down the slave rebellion because it hinders sugar cane production. British troops occupy the island and burn the sugar cane fields to take the insurgents out of their hiding place - the island is burned for the second time, as the original English title indicates. Walker pursues his former pupil Dolores, can track him down and take him prisoner. He later wants to free him, but the latter refuses to reveal his cause and is hanged. The insurgent force disintegrates without its leader.

Before Walker can leave the island after “his work is done”, he is stabbed to death by a follower of Dolores', whom he initially takes to be the young Dolores. At the end of the film, the slaves quickly find a new leader, they do not give up their right to freedom.

production

There were numerous problems and conflicts during the production of the film. Marlon Brando called for the production company to improve the infrastructure, quarreled with Pontecorvo about the script and direction and threatened to leave. The production became much more expensive, and the start in the cinemas had to be postponed several times. The film didn't go down well with audiences and was a flop for United Artists . It is presumed that Pontecorvo did not shoot another large-scale production due to the dispute with Brando.

Historical background

The name of the protagonist was intentional. William Walker was one of the most popular political buccaneers of the 19th century. In addition, one could see clear parallels to the development in Vietnam , where the war was escalating parallel to the making of the film.

In the script, Queimada was a Spanish (instead of a Portuguese) colony, but the Spanish government under Francisco Franco successfully pressured producers to change it. However, the language spoken in the film is still Spanish.

Reviews

“A film with an anti-colonialist stance that turns the contrast between Portuguese and British colonial interests around 1830 into an allegory of the struggle for freedom in today's 'Third World'. Designed according to a somewhat simple Marxist scheme, exquisitely photographed, underlaid with exciting music. "

- Lexicon of international film

“ ... May the Italian Ciné-Marxist Gillo Pontecorvo, 50, let his two-hour work, filmed in Colombia, also play in the 19th century and use photogenic large-scale fires, a brilliant bank robbery and realistic skirmishes as a“ romantic adventure ”(Pontecorvo ) camouflage: "Queimada" is a lesson for the poor of the third world ... "

- The mirror

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Queimada - Island of Terror. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Lesson from the student , in: Der Spiegel No. 19 of May 4, 1970, p. 225