Burn! (queimada!) October 15, 2010

Complete uncut version
Oct. 15 @ 9:30pm Oct. 16 @ 7PM
In English and Portuguese with English subtitles

After The Battle of Algiers Gillo Pontecorvo produced another epic take on colonialism, this time focusing on a fictional Caribbean island in the mid-19th century where William Walker (Brando), a British agent provocateur, is deployed to foment a rebellion among the black slaves laboring on Portuguese-run sugar plantations.

Indeed the icon’s mastery of body language and expression was such that early in the film’s production, Evaristo Márquez—the amateur actor playing the rebel leader—eased his way into his role by mimicking Brando’s off-screen example. Brando himself delivered a “bravura performance as the foppish, decadent, self-loathing villain, [elevating] a simplistic allegory into something approaching Shakespearean tragedy” (Elliot Stein, Village Voice). With a score by the acclaimed Ennio Morricone.

Initially released in the U.S. in truncated form, Burn! was recently restored to this complete, Italian-language version—a unique opportunity to appreciate the visual power of Brando’s commanding screen presence.

Official Website: https://artsemerson.org/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=2C0A777F-0471-4594-9854-EDDA0BD5BC13