The Leopard before The Leopard, Viva Zapata! must have been an event for Visconti to have seen in the early fifties. Hot off A Streetcar Named Desire, Elia Kazan reteams with Marlon Brando in his prime to create an elemental epic of earth, rock and sky. Myth permeates the screen as peasant guerrillas wage an invisible war for the rights to their land. The Marxist leanings, performances, formal proficiency and set design must have struck a chord: The influence is laid bare in the tryst sequence from 1954’s Senso, a nearly shot-for-shot remake of Zapata’s honeymoon scene.

Also screening as part of The Complete Visconti series.