Burnt! (Queimada): A source for a mini-campaign set during the 1840s and 1850s?

My wife is of the opinion that I will watch pretty well any war film that is broadcast on TV, and to a certain extent, she is right. I do draw the line with some films, particularly those that have been badly made or are downright inaccurate. The worst of the ones I have watched recently was OPERATION DUNKIRK ... which was so bad that I had to watch it to the end to see just how bad it got!*

BURNT! (which in Italian was known as QUEIMADA) is a completely different kettle of fish. It is an Italian-made film starring Marlon Brando that was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, and that has a musical score by Ennio Morricone. The story is set during the 1840s and 1850s on a fictional island in the Caribbean and concerns the actions of a British government agent (Brando) who first destabilises the existing colonial government by engineering a slave revolt and then returns to overthrow the government that replaced the colonial power and suppress a revolt against British rule by proxy.

Brando's character is named Sir William Walker (a very obvious reference to the American filibuster of the same name who was very active in Central America during the 1850s), and the island – which is called Queimada – is supposed to be a Portuguese colony somewhere in the Lesser Antilles.

(It is worth noting that the only Portuguese colony in the Americas was Brazil, and Queimada should have been a Spanish colony. At the time the film was made General Franco was still in change in Spain, and the film company changed the colonial power from Spanish to Portuguese so as not to offend him and to ensure that it was not banned from being shown in Spain!)

On his arrival on Queimada in 1844, Walker befriends a local man – José Dolores – whom he persuades to lead a slave rebellion against the Portuguese rulers. The Portuguese Governor is killed during the rebellion, thus assuring its success, and Walker establishes a puppet regime led by a local plantation owner named Teddy Sanchez. Sanchez is kept in power by the British-owned Antilles Royal Sugar Company, who have taken over the output of the island's sugar plantations ... which was the real reason behind the ejection of the Portuguese.

Within four years Dolores has led a revolt against the new government, and by 1854 the situation is so bad that Walker is brought back to suppress the revolt and pacifying the island. Walker engineers a coup which results in the removal and execution of Sanchez.

The execution of Sanchez.

British troops are then 'invited' to land on the island to assist in its pacification. They provide support for the island's own army and within a short time the rebellion is crushed, and Dolores is captured and – despite Walker's efforts to save him – later executed.

The capture of Dolores by Walker.

The film ends with Walker being stabbed to death as he is about to leave the island.

I think that quite a few of my regular blog readers will agree that the plot of this film is not a bad little scenario for a mini-campaign set somewhere a bit exotic and out of the ordinary. The British infantry are seen wearing uniforms that reasonably accurate, but the artillery looks as if they are wearing uniforms similar to those worn by the West India Regiment after 1856. The local troops are seen wearing a uniform that has a blue tailcoat, grey trousers, and a tarred top hat similar to that worn by the Royal Marines during the Napoleonic Wars.

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* Some of the goofs identified by contributors to IMDb include:

• The evacuation of Dunkirk/Dunkerque took place from 26th May to 4th June 4 1940. Despite this, some of the troops are supposed to be British paratroops (the first British parachute troops were not formed until after the evacuation) and they are shown wearing red berets, which were not introduced into service until 1942. Some are even shown wearing the American M1 helmet, which was not issued until 1941.
• They 'British' troops are seen driving around in US Army vehicles, including a Willys Jeep ... which did not come into service until 1941. They are also seen carrying Thompson submachine guns, a weapon that was not introduced into the British Army until after the evacuation.
• The German troops are seen wearing wearing modern green, black, and brown camouflaged uniforms.
• The plot involves 'crack' (or should that read 'crap') British troops going behind the German frontline to find a scientist whose work could 'win the war' ... and this is at a time when most of the British Army was trying to get to Dunkirk so that they could be evacuated, and the Germans were pushing them back.