In "Burn!" Santiago is dead, having been tortured and decapitated by the authorities for being the leader of a rebellion in the Portugese colony of Queimada. That leaves Sir William Walker(Marlon Brando) of the British Admiralty at something of a loss, as he was orchestrating the whole thing. So, he picks Jose
Dolores(Evaristo Marquez), a lowly porter, to lead the ex-slaves while he employs Teddy Sanchez(Renato Salvatori) to handle it from another angle.
"Burn!" reminds me a lot of the discussions about international development I remember from college(ah, the good old days!), except this movie is a lot more entertaining in detailing how natural resources are more important to colonial powers than human lives, even while paying lip service to human rights. All the while, talk of independence is being manipulated, as control moves from one power to another. Walker may feel that he is above and better than this but he is no different, with more than one master himself. Actually, he is a bigger manipulative bastard than them all. As good as he is at his profession, he cannot control everything, due to some events taking on a life of their own and are bigger and more complicated than mere mortals can handle.
May 13, 2010
Top Critic
