The film Burn was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and released in 1969 at the time of the civil rights movements. It conveys the story of the liberation of slaves on the island of Quemada in the middle of power struggles between Portugal and Britain. William Walker, the British agent, played by Marlon Brando, comes to the Portuguese colony to ignite the revolution, destroy the Portuguese rule and make the island a British colony. The events take place in the middle of the nineteenth century when abolitionist movements initiated.
The point of attack of the film is the scene that initiates the action in the plot and drives the main problem. In Burn, the point of attack is the scene when William Walker sees Jose Dolores for the first time as he sneaks into the crowd of chained slaves to bring water and food for his peers (Pontecorvo). This moment in the plot makes Marlon Brando’s character change his decision and stay on the island to pursue his initial assignment of igniting the revolution.
The plot of the movie is chronological and linear, which allows for logical conveying of the events. Despite the linear plot, the film’s events are portrayed in complexity due to the interplay of the multiple characters influencing the development of the story. At the onset stage, William Walker arrives at the Caribbean island to complete the British government’s task to induce a revolution and substitute the Portuguese rule with the British exploitation of the island of Quemada. The agent encourages the slave Jose Dolores to become a liberation movement leader and helps the enslaved to oppose the Portuguese. With time, the island is freed from Portuguese rule, and slavery is announced to be abolished. As Jose Dolores obtains a leader’s role on the island, he fails to control the situation and transfers the power to the white elite. William Walker finishes his work on Quemada and goes to Indochina.
After that, the plot shifts to the events that take place ten years later when the British government again tasks William Walker to go to the island to convince Jose Dolores to stop the liberation movement. Unable to convince Jose to surrender, William Walker engages in war with him and organizes a fire to make the population give up. People are killed, and fields are burnt; Jose Dolores does not abandon his freedom ambitions even when he is sentenced to execution. As William Walker prepares to leave the island, he is killed.
The film’s first turning point is when Jose engages in revolutionary actions by agreeing to rob the bank. Thus, when he becomes a leader of the movement for independence and abolitionism, the following events of fighting against slavery become the plot’s central issue. The second turning point occurs in the second half of the movie when the events after ten years are portrayed. When William Walker returns to the island and understands that Jose Dolores will not abandon his idea of gaining freedom, the plot proceeds to the climax. The climax of the film is where Jose Dolores and William Walker encounter each other as the representatives of the opposing parties. Jose faces the challenge of either proceeding with his rebellion or complying with the British rule, and he remains loyal to his liberation ambitions.
Two main characters are central to the film, where unlike in conventional cinematography, there is no clear identification of a protagonist and antagonist. One might claim that Jose is a protagonist due to his central role in the delivery of the film’s theme of freedom and liberation of the enslaved population. William Walker, as a complex character, might be seen as an antagonist who is a lawful servant of the British crown, ready to kill and destroy to accomplish his mission. Thus, Burn depicts the complexity of the capitalist worldview and the place of humanism in it through the perspective of the historical portrayal of slaves’ devoted struggle for freedom.
Work Cited
Pontecorvo, Gillo, director. Burn. Produzioni Europee Associati, 1969.