1960s - my favourite films

A Stark film made using non-actors that deserves greater recognition. A film that makes you think and also feel ignorant - which is commendable in itself. This film is like City of God made before technical advances and slick editing techniques. As relevant today as it was then, maybe more so given the 'Climate of Fear' and the 'War on Terrorism'.

In some areas, this film actually manages to be a progression from Pontecorvo's masterpiece Battle of Algiers, but unfortunately, the 'sinking lips' mask what may have been great performances making it hard to engage with the characters. The audio quality is most disappointing with regard to Brando's character William Walker. Walker is a cunningly constructed Machiavellian manipulator reminiscent of a Lady Macbeth (with less guilt) and Iago (with arguably less motive) that is, nonetheless (and most impressively), believable. William Walker is potentially one of the greatest roles in film history played by one of the greatest actors of his generation. Sadly, the character, performance and film are diminished by poor quality audio (at this point I feel that it is important to not that I am not referring to the film's excellent musical score). Although the score may benefit from digital re-mastering the dubbing of actors' dialogue would not, and therefore Pontecorvo's Burn may never surpass being an almost great film. An admirable effort, smartly constructed narrative held back by dodgy audio - close to greatness.

In terms of the display of technical expertise, this should be compulsory viewing - the cinematography is breathtaking. The story is remarkably cliché-free, given the subsequent potential for parody/ homage. The occasionally unsettling scene structure befits the tone of the film and the protagonist's mindset.

This film isn't perfect. Given the troubled production, the rare narrative dead-end is forgivable. These scenes are often well captured and offer further potential for subtext development. Nikolay Burlyaev's performance is particularly powerful.