Product Details

• Actors: Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Joseph Wiseman
• Directors: Elia Kazan
• Format: Import, NTSC, Full Screen
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: FOX FILMES
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000SQQBT0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,695 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

In 1909, Emiliano Zapata, a well-born but penniless Mexican Indian from a remote province, Morelos, comes to Mexico City to complain that their arable land has been enclosed, leaving them only in the barren hills. His expressed dissatisfaction with the response of the President Diaz puts him in danger, and when he rashly rescues a prisoner from the local militia he becomes an outlaw. Urged on by a strolling intellectual, Fernando, he supports the exiled Don Francisco Madero against Diaz, and becomes the leader of his forces in the South as Pancho Villa is in the North. Diaz flees, and Madero takes his place; but he is a puppet president, in the hands of the leader of the army, Huerta, who has him assassinated when he tries to express solidarity for the men who fought for him. Zapata and Villa return to arms, and, successful in victory, seek to find a leader for the country. Unwillingly, Zapata takes the job, but, a while later, he responds to some petitioners from his own village with no more reassurance than had Diaz years before., Realizing that with power his idealism has gone, he returns with them to Morelos - specifically to investigate their complaints against his brother Eufemio. New leaders take his place, and, egged on by the always surviving Fernando, they decide that Zapata is a threat to their regime.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A romatic yet cynical look at the nature of 'Revolution'., August 29, 2001

By 

Frank Gibbons (Seekonk, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Viva Zapata [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I really enjoyed this film directed by Elia Kazan with a screenplay by John Steinbeck (his only credited screenplay). Their vision of the Revolution is at once both impossibly romantic as well as bitterly cynical. The romance lies in the pure-hearted desire of Emiliano Zapata to bring justice and land reform to `the people'. The cynicism is expressed in the constant betrayal and manipulation of the Revolution by men who are either weak, self-seeking, or who have absolutely no commitment to justice or to `the people. Then there is the character of Fernando, deliciously played by Joseph Wiseman, the professional revolutionary who will never be satisfied with the attainment of objectives but only in incessant foment and agitation (in real life, Kazan detested doctrinaire Stalinists). Brando gives a brooding performance as the illiterate Zapata who inwardly burns at his inability to read. Anthony Quinn won an Oscar as Zapata's older brother, Eufemio. Virtually all of the characters in `Viva Zapata' are ground down by the realities of constant struggle of revolution. We are not to have illusions about the nature of Revolutions. And yet, Kazan and Steinbeck still leave us room to believe that the ideals of revolutionary struggle in themselves can be endowed with nobility and worthiness. The cinematography by Joe MacDonald is tasteful as is the music score by Alex North.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb acting makes this film great, March 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Viva Zapata [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A bit of trivia!
I've seen Viva Zapata a number of times and even discussed the film personally with Elia Kazan in New York City.
Tyrone Power was to portray Zapata (Zanuck fought Kazan on that issue and won) and, thank God, Brando took over the role when Power refused to sign an extension to his contract with Fox. He would have been miscast - most likely.
Then for the part of Josefa, Kazan wanted Julie Harris. Zanuck insisted that he hire Fox contract player Jean Peters. In this case Zanuck was right. Jean had played other latino girls and looked the part. Harris would have had to wear a black wig and hide her numerous freckles (the Irish in her would have been hard to cover up). Brando also liked Jean Peters better than Harris, but for other reasons; he had intentions to romance the actress - although her chaotic encounter with his pet racoon who bit her in the rib-cage during the filming, dowsed all his efforts to bed her. At any rate, Peters was a good choice in the end. Despite Kazan's worries that she wouldn't be believable, she is first rate in this flick and has two great scenes (the one in the church in which she threatens Brando with her hair pin and the one where she teaches him to read on their honeymoon bed) - plus, of course, her final scene in the movie, in which she becomes hysterical and is outstanding.
Anthony Quinn got an Oscar for this one, and well deserved. Kazan, Brando and Peters would have probaly won recognition as well if it weren't for the fact that Kazan was called by HUAC (the MacCarthy witch hunt of the 40's and 50's) and had decided "to name names" to the investigating committee - that made him an unpopular figure in Hollywood and the film was ignored (and Brando became quite cool towards his favorite director after that).
As for the movie - even if it does not follow the life of the Mexican hero to the T, the John Steinbeck script is far superior than others depicting Pancho Villa, Che and other revolutionary heros - and this one is probaly more factual. Kazan's direction is enigmatic and the cinematography and camera angles used by Joe MacDonald are excellent.
This one is a MUST SEE!!!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Reluctant (Mythic) Hero, February 23, 2004

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Viva Zapata [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Directed by Elia Kazan, this film focuses on the revolutionary initiatives of Emiliano Zapata (Brando) who was born on August 8, 1879, in Anenecuilco, Morelos. He was a mediero (sharecropper) and horse trainer, conscripted into the army for seven years attaining the rank of sergeant. As president of the village council, he campaigned for the restoration of village lands confiscated by hacendados. His slogan was "Tierra y Libertad." Zapata sided with Don Francisco Madero (Harold Gordon). Between 1910 and 1919, Zapata continued his fight for land and liberty, rebelling against anyone who interfered with his Plan of Ayala which called for the seizure of all foreign owned land, all land taken from villages, confiscation of one-third of all land held by "friendly" hacendados and full confiscation of land owned by persons opposed to the Plan of Ayala. On April 10, 1919, Zapata was tricked into a meeting with one of Venustiano Carranza's generals who wanted to "switch sides." The meeting was a trap, and Zapata was killed as he arrived at the meeting.

When writing the screenplay, John Steinbeck took several liberties with these and other historical facts to serve the interests of the film's narrative. Nonetheless, I am fascinated by Brando's portrayal of Zapata and intrigued by Kazan's association with a film so unrelated to his work on stage and film before or since. There are several memorable moments. My personal favorites are when the captured Zapata is led through the countryside by captors who eventually release him (for reasons best revealed in the film), when he later approaches Josefa Espejo (Jean Peters) and her family during a church service, and later when he is gunned down in a village square. The supporting cast is first-rate. Anthony Quinn received his first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Eufemio Zapata, the other for his portrayal of Paul Gaugin in Lust for Life. The performances by Gordon, Joseph Wiseman (Fernando Aguirre), Frank Silvera (General Victoriano Huerta), and Arnold Moss (Don Nacio) are also noteworthy. As for Peters, she was given little to work with and did the best she could with it. I wish Kazan and Steinbeck had developed her character in much greater depth.

Brando's is a studied, subdued portrayal of an essentially simple man with a few basic principles. His Zapata is a reluctant but (when necessary) passionate leader of oppressed people. After seeing Viva Zapata! again recently, I again wondered what Kazan's primary objective was when he agreed to direct it. (Comparisons with On the Waterfront are inevitable.) I continue to think about this film and, as of now, am as yet undecided as to its meaning and, especially, its significance.