77.125

A Marxist swashbuckler! Brando gives his personal favourite of all his performances as Sir William Walker, the veddy-cool Victorian secret agent who liberates a slave colony. Only he's no hero - he does it to keep the price of sugar down for England's tea, and soon the slaves are even worse off & fight back. A widly subversive politcal/action classic.

Another strong political drama from Pontecorvo about the inability of European colonialists to cope with or even fully comprehend the revolutionary spirit. A few awkward time cuts introduce some confusion, but otherwise the story is quite gripping with starkly realistic scenes. Brando is superb in the lead, effortlessly slipping into the character and pulling off a natural British accent. Morricone's idiosyncratic score at first seems out of place, but eventually I really warmed up to it.

Disappointing. I had very high hopes this after seeing Pontecorvo's magnificent "Battle of Algiers," but this is nowhere near as vibrant or as daring. The politics are heavy and slugglishly ponderous, Brando is an ok antihero but he's done better. Some of the battle sequences are good, but the flashes of brilliance are too few.