So I liked Viva Zapata. I know it was long and in black and white but even so, I liked it. And the movie reminded me a lot of Quilombo and the portrayal of Palmares in it. I believe that there are a lot of parallels between the two movies but the biggest one is the idea that the revolution will not die. In Quilombo a common theme is that Palmares will survive forever. This was difficult to comprehend after the slaughter of the rebels by the white plantation owners. Yet, the one survivor was able to keep Palmares alive. I believe this is because the idea of freedom, of Palmares, had spread throughout the population, and an idea is much harder to kill than a single man.
A very similar concept is seen during Viva Zapata. At the end of the movie Zapata seemed resigned to the idea that he may die. But he told his wife that the people no longer needed him. They had grown strong. They had tasted freedom. And now each one of them had the same never ending drive that he had shown previously. He was confident that the revolution would live on in each one of them. He was correct too. At the end of the film Gomez orders Zapata's white horse to be shot but it escapes. This is important because the horse represents the hope that Zapata is still alive and ready to reemerge if the people ever have a dire need for him. The people of the village remain unconvinced that Zapata is truly dead. He was so shot up that it could have been any body sitting on the plaza. These two elements combined to form an even stronger driving force behind the revolution. Therefore, just like Palmares did not die with the massacre of its people, the revolution did not end with the death of Zapata.
I completely agree with you Lauren! What a great connection between Zapata and the Palmares! In both movies, people stand up to their oppressors. Slaves run away and form a fugitive slave community in Palmares. Peasants stand up and fight against rich planters and elites with Zapata as their leader. Even though many of the people living in Palmares are killed and Zapata is killed, their legacy lives on. They still bring hope to their followers. This makes it almost a happy ending which makes me almost happy.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great connection! The aspect I can really see the connection with is the fact that both groups have leaders that die, but the people continue to fight for what they believe in. The leaders were who got the oppressed people rallied around a singular cause, but even after the leaders died, their ideals were carried out by the people. It goes to show that a group is only has strong as its weakest link, and one link can't keep everything together. Everyone must be strong in order to achieve the goals of the whole group.
ReplyDeleteLauren, I really like the connection you made here between the survival of the Mexican Revolution and Palmares. It makes a lot of sense, both movies represent the fact that an ideal is stronger than just one person, and once you have enough people who believe in this ideal, a single death cannot kill it. Like in Viva Zapata, they may have been able to kill the man behind the revolution, but they couldn't kill the idea, or in this case his horse. Implying that the driving ideals still live on and are stronger than ever.
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