Burn! (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1969)-Festival Select

Join the Society and Recreation department of the North York Central Library in Rm. 101 for monthly screenings of fiction and non-fiction films that push the boundaries of the medium. This month's film is Gillo Pontecorvo's Burn! (1969).

Synopsis: A Caribbean island in the mid-1800's. Nature has made it a paradise; man has made it a hell. Slaves on vast Portuguese sugar plantations are ready to turn their misery into rebellion - and the British are ready to provide the spark. They send agent William Walker (Marlon Brando) on a devious three-part mission: trick the slaves into revolt, grab the sugar trade for England...then return the slaves to servitude. Gillo Pontecorvo, the acclaimed director of The Battle of Algiers, explores colonialism and insurrection in the searing epic Burn!. Both visually and narratively stunning, Burn! glows with the fires of Pontecorvo's unique filmmaking genius. Genius is also evident in Brando's complex, intelligent portrayal of a man who is both gentleman and scoundrel, revolutionary and colonialist. And Ennio Morricone's (The Untouchables, The Mission) haunting music memorably underscores the almost overwhelmingly powerful story.
Revolutionary filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo presents an exploration of the Portuguese rebellion against the British in the 1840s. Marlon Brando gives a deeply felt performance as an adventurer hired as a mercenary by the British.

Host or Publisher At Toronto Public Library by Parks Canada/Rouge National Urban Park