Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti"’s review published on Letterboxd:
"Burn!" is a 1969 historical drama directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. Three years prior, Pontecorvo would unleash the furious effort that was "The Battle for Algiers" (1966), which would exemplify an all too real scenario contained within a narrative structure in such an immaculate heightened way that would draw real world attention to the situational happenings at hand. "Algiers" places the prospective viewer the sheer thick of it, as blunt terminology holds more weight in a film that holds its roots in realism. As I could easily dive into "Battle for Algiers" as it is simply one of my favorite films of all time, it's worth more in the merit of this to see transferrable connection of this product, "Burn!", the next film in his Pontecorvo's successive filmography line.
The continuation of Italian Neorealism runs strong as one of the mainstays in Pontecorvo's efforts, but I enjoy the interesting tune that they are often placed outside of the conventional stomping ground of the genre and into these worldly avenues with deeply social economical tones. Pontecorvo and this encompassed theme of Neorealism, being a movement by, for, and of the people for all intents and purposes gives this raw showcase of life in full motion, with the structure of the scene there but hiding behind the flow of movement for what it is worth. It's that perfect balance of knowing that there is good honest merit going into the structure of the shot, but that properly allowed balance of life to flow. Now Pontecorvo at times can be less about the presented flow, within an anarchic build of explosions on screen as he tackles themes of war, unrest and purposely adequate championing of strong arguments against the world of Colonialism, but at the core of the structure it is all built on the natural flow of people. As Fellini tends to have them sucking down spaghetti via my favorite scene in "Roma" (1972), Pontecorvo is waging war, showing more jerk neck reactionary flow or if in doses of something that is applicated slower, the flow of turmoil and strife.
"Burn!" easily fits the mold of being that after project of sorts, the kind that comes about when Hollywood or heavy independent backers want to get their grips on the raw energy that came before, in this case "Algiers". That doesn't necessarily hinder it, just connects with what it is in its placement, as these efforts tend be looked at an interesting partnership. The raw vision of Pontecorvo was then pared with the producer energy of Alberto Grimaldi, a staple in the world of Italian cinema but who also notably made waves at the same time as Pontecorvo was focused on "Algiers", with Grimaldi's own production efforts in a little-known film (joking) called "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (1966). Ennio Morricone was in familiar territory with both Grimaldi and Pontecorvo, so the composer-based puzzle piece was easily found. Then centralized character of Marlon Brando, who turned down multiple roles in things such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) turned focus to star in this film, really marking a time where we see Brando who was in more worldly flavored film than his platform within the Hollywood machine of the past. Easily opposite in the main role across from Brando's Sir William Walker is Evaristo Márquez as José Dolores. In true romanticized elemental form that speak to the ethos of Neorealism genre craft, Marquez was a simple herdsman from Colombia who actually didn't know how to read before selected to be in this film, and then returned back to that way of life directly after. That might be the most poetic note within all the energy of this film right there, as I cannot speak to importance that his character in this film is easily as equal as Brando in this film.
Ultimately, at the end of the day, "The Battle for Algiers" is, will, and will always be Pontecorvo's masterpiece but the strong resolution in "Burn!" shines through. As it is always a Pontecorvo intention, there is real raw flow applicated with the sheer strive of the people, in a massive contextual story that involves slave revolts in the most brutalist form of the effects of Colonialism that one can witness. This film takes no blindside in this approach either, as viewers are going to get a heavy, unapologetic experience of the brutalities of this war, but naturally the purposed effect is to draw real world marination of cause and effect in the minds of a world that very much tuned out its history. I would easily say that this is a film that should be viewed more prevalently in terms of both social/historical discourse but also how to wonderfully applicate those tonal builds into such a quantitative value of directive art.