Viva Zapata! tells the story of the legendary Mexican revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata. He was a historical figure who helped fight for the rights of poor Mexican farmers during the early 20th century. Zapata helped lead the peasant farmers in a revolution against the corrupt and oppressive government. Zapata in this film is portrayed as a reluctant but successful leader who is determined to fight for justice.
As the film opens, we see a group of peasant Mexican farmers petitioning the president, Diaz, to return their land back to them. Zapata is among the group of farmers. The president responds with an answer that is only meant to appease the farmers but he is not really concerned with actually helping them. This angers Zapata and he speaks up. Diaz then writes Zapata's name down on a list. Traveling on the road back, Zapata rescues a prisoner from the military and as a result, becomes a wanted outlaw. After encouragement from an exiled rebel, Mader, Zapata helps to lead a rebellion against the Mexican government. The farmers are eventually successful and Madero, the fellow revolutionary becomes the new leader of the government. However, Madero is assassinated by his own general. Zapata hesitantly steps up as the new leader. Later on in his new position, a similar experience occurs as to the one in the very beginning of the film. But this time the roles have reversed. The scene shows a group of farmers making a complaint to the president, Zapata, and he responds to them the same way Diaz responded to him. Zapata realizes what that he is becoming just like all the other before him and he decides to step down as leader and return home. A new leader takes his place who is encouraged to have Zapata killed. Zapata is tricked into meeting with the new regime and they have him gunned down and Emiliano Zapata dies.
After the supporters of Zapata find his dead body, they refuse to accept that he is in fact dead. They make a statement saying "you can't kill an idea" and they choose to believe, rather, that he is in the mountains. A shot of Zapata's horse is then shown on the side of a mountain. This signifies that the spirit of Zapata will live on for he had inspired others to fight for what they believe in as well. He left a legacy and his followers were going to continue in his foot steps.
Some broader themes that can be seen in this film are the common themes of good vs. evil and individual vs. society. Zapata is portrayed as good, while the dictator presidencies are the bad. Interestingly though, the movie shows how power can go to one's head and as a result make a good person turn evil. This is seen with Zapata's brother and Zapata himself. Zapata does not necessarily turn evil but he starts to head down that past after he is made president. Fortunately he realizes his mistake and corrects himself, which is not the case for his brother.
Some were displeased with the outcome of this movie, believing it to be a very inaccurate portrayal. The movie is based off of real historical events and much of the events and characters depicted in the film are true to history. However, there is some fictionalization incorporated into the story. For example, the character Fernando Aguirre was completely created for the film. But he was created to serve the purpose of illustrating the evil and corrupt aspects of the Mexican Government. Also being an American made movie, anti-Communist elements were incorporated into the movie which did not exist in the real story. The film was produced in the US in the 1950s, in the middle of the Cold War. This movie was produced more as a vehicle to convey a message to America during this time than it was to recount a history lesson. Despite some inaccuracies, many feel that Viva Zapata! does accurately depict the spirit of Zapatismo.
I think this is a pretty successful film. I think the U.S. got their message across while still making an informative and entertaining movie. I think you definitely can take away some important historical pieces of information from the film. You almost get a double dose of history. You get to learn about the Mexican Revolution with the infusion of American post World War II elements. Viva Zapata! helped give me a better sense of what the rural people of Mexico were fighting for during their revolution.
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