Viva Zapata!
With Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn.
US, 1952, 35mm, color, 113 min.
Print source: HFA
Filmed at the time of Kazan’s notorious HUAC testimony, Viva Zapata! offers a dramatically searching yet ultimately unresolved return to the director's roots in radical left-wing theater and politics. Written in close collaboration with lifelong Mexicophile John Steinbeck, who shared Kazan's fascination with Zapata's vision and failure, the film uses the idealistic revolutionary to offer an unflinching critique of the limits and corrosive potential of power. Featuring one of Brando's underappreciated bravura performances, Viva Zapata! is today considered one of the most evocative screen depictions of the Mexican revolution, despite the intense efforts by the Mexican film industry to suppress and censor the film during its early production stages.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Splendor in the Grass
Johnny Mercer: "The Dream's on Me" / Blues in the Night
A Face in the Crowd
Gentleman's Agreement
