Viva Zapata! (1952)

First of all-you can get a copy of it from Corinth Video, New York City. When I saw that Tyrone Power was originally picked to play Zapata I almost fell out of my chair. An inch deep Hollywood pretty boy playing this role? It would have been ghastly. He could never have carried it off with Kazan directing and against the great other actors. Maybe he could have strutted around with a knife in his teeth and brandishing two pistols. It took a dramatic actor like Brando to probe the range of feelings, conflicts, various personalities: from bumpkin to leader, from uncertainty to decisiveness, from vulnerability to strength, the growth from peasant to leader. Brando was a tour De force. I have seen this movie 100 times. It never stops evoking new elements and dimensions. It still hasn't gone stale in spite of some melodrama here and there. I began to see a sea change somewhere in the middle, maybe when he had to do politics - maybe the scene in President Madero's office when he was offered the ranch, or Eufemio's going bad, from upbeat anthem to a steady decline to tragic destruction, and that causes me sadness. I was a kid when I saw it first and it transformed my life. An exposition of what it is to be a decent man trying to do the right thing, thinking of his people in a world of cynicism and greed. One interesting thing for me was how the two people closest to Zapata acted out as his alter egos: Pablo the conciliator and peace lover, and Eufemio as the angry shoot first and ask questions later guy. Unfortunately, I identified too much with Fernando, the soulless operator dedicated to "nothing but logic". He is so necessary as the "observer", namely us - the cold modern man in contrast to all that humanness and passion. That this movie is not a docudrama about events or a man's life is irrelevant -it is an allegory. One of Hollywood's greatest but lost in the dust. Maybe it was too close to the human heart for Hollywood. It could never be made today.

Fmovies: This is a pretty good 1950's action/drama considering Elia Kazan had never before or never would again direct an action movie. It's almost like a Western except the setting is the second decade of the 20th century between the years of 1910-1919. Marlon Brando is Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination. Brando is paired once again with Kazan who directed him the year before in A Streetcar Named Desire and would pair with him a couple of years later in Brando's Oscar winning performance in On the Waterfront. This film is well photographed by Mexican born cinematographer Joe Macdonald who should have been nominated for an Oscar but wasn't. In a rare role for Mexican born Anthony Quinn to be actually playing a Mexican as Eufernio Zapata for which he won the Academy Award for Best supporting Actor for 1952. Quinn's first nomination of four in his career and his first win of two. The film received three other nominations for Art Direction, Music and for it's John Steinbeck written Screenplay. This film is pure Hollywood however and is largely a fictional portrayal of actual events in it's romanticizing tale of one of Mexico's most beloved heroes Zapata. Despite the story by Steinbeck the dialog is weak. It's a good movie but Kazan is out of his element here, Brando is miscast and Steinbeck is lazy. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10.

I'm no expert on the historical facts of the 1911 Revolution but can appreciate this movie's absorbing tale just as it stands. The photography is notably excellent and draws you into the story more and more. I think Brando as the illiterate peasant leader does a superb job of carrying the film along, creating the tender or serious moods that make for compelling drama throughout. I've always admired Jean Peters in any movie and her sensitive acting poignantly rounds out the love interest so well. Of course Quinn is his usual volcanic self, and in this instance garnered an Oscar as best supporting actor. It's a serious and sad tale about a real-life struggle of the people.

Viva Zapata! fmovies. I saw Viva Zapata 50 years ago, when I was 15. And all those years I hoped to see it again sometime. But in the Netherlands it's not available on VHS or DVD. I remember the great performance of Marlon Brando as Zapata. And how I hated Wiseman who played the ultimate traitor. In a magazine I read that Brando, before they shot the picture, spent several weeks in a remote Mexican village to learn the habits of the Mexicans, and he WAS a Mexican in the film! What a performer! I do hope to see once again some day! 9 out of 10.

Hans Dullaart Delft Netherlands.

This film is one of my favorites. I remember vividly seeing this film as a high school student. I was impressed with it then and am impressed with it today. It's still wonderful...but, then, why shouldn't it be? The performances of Brando, Peters, Quinn, Wiseman and others is still breathtaking, but Quinn and Brando steal the show from the get-go. This is one of Brando's finest roles and while Quinn always outdoes himself (even in that god-awful Walk in the Clouds), he IS Eufemio Zapata. There are few reviews here of this film and one reviewer has completely missed the point, but no matter. The film stands on its own and there's always someone to complain at excellence. This script came from none other than Steinbeck and the photography and background is likewise excellent. Is it accurate historically? Well, there are a few embellishments but the thrust of the film is not marred by any deviations from recorded history. This is portrayal of a people's struggle, one which continues today and doesn't pretend to be a chronicle of the actual events that took place in Mexico. As a film, this stands on its merit as a superb work of art. The acting is wonderful. While one reviewer found the music to be like the kind you hear while eating a combination plate on Olvera Street in LA, I might point out, that's what Mexican music is. Rent this film. While it is listed as not being available, I rented it recently and watched it again, for the nth time, as indeed, I plan to watch n times again.

this was Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn at their best ---the entire supporting cast was superb.

Steinbeck hadn't written anything as powerful as this since he did his tale of the Okies during the depression. Zapata is truly one of the great heroes of the 20th century, and Brando captured this along with the frustration of trying to do the right thing and yet being hamstrung by the bureaucrats who manage to survive every change in government, no matter which way in turns.The final scene in the movie leaves Zapata as a legend --- did he die, or does he still live to help the millions of peons in Mexico.

Elia Kazan's direction was terrific.