زنده باد زاپاتا‫!

by John Steinbeck, همایون نوراحمر (Translator)

زنده‌باد زاپاتا! از مشهورترین آثار الیا کازان و از پرآوازه‌ترین فیلم‌های سینمای موسوم به «انقلابی»، زندگی و دوران یکی از انقلابی‌های امریکای لاتین را از ظهور تا سقوطش به نمایش می‌گذارد. شهرت عمدهٔ جان استین‌بک مرهون آثار ادبی اوست اما از چند کتابش اقتباس‌های سینمایی مشهوری ساخته شده و چند فیلمنامه هم مستقیماً برای سینما نوشته که زنده‌باد زاپاتا! مشهورترین آن‌هاست. زنده‌باد زاپاتا! سرگذشت یک انقلابی و ترسیم‌کنندهٔ یک دورهٔ تاریخی، و کاوشی پیرامون مسئلهٔ «قدرت» و نیروی گاه تباه‌کنندهٔ آن نیز هست.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Film, Literature, Audiobook, American

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book represents the first time that two certain pieces of work by John Steinbeck were published in one volume. The first section contains what is called a 'screen narrative' titled Zapata A Narrative, In Dramatic Form, of the Life Of Emiliano Zapata. The second part of the book offers the original screenplay Steinbeck wrote for the 1952 movie Viva Zapata! starring Marlon Brando as Zapata.

The movie as filmed differs from the original screenplay as printed here: many scenes were cut, or never filmed, dialogue was changed, and so forth. And the original screenplay is very very different from the screen narrative. Liberties were taken with the movie script that were not at all present in the narrative. This is one of the issues that makes this book tricky for me to review and rate.

I'll start at the beginning. The narrative is almost like reading Steinbeck's journal. We see his plans for the film taking shape, we see his research and attention to small details, we sense his admiration for the people of Mexico, and especially we feel his respect for Emiliano Zapata. This section has 'scenes' for the movie with 'notes' on backgrounds, cultural and historical details, and personal thoughts between the scenes.

Some of his thoughts: "Zapata's life was devotion to an idea that never changed....The resolution in Zapata seemed to have been born into him....and if I make it anything else I will be lying about him...Even the people who hated him agree that he was devoted, incorruptible, and fearless always. There was no internal struggle in the man, no uncertainty, no barrier of fear to overcome....I am trying to take an Indian's eye
view of him...to them he could do no wrong."

And yet the man who had these thoughts about the actual Zapata allowed the film version of Zapata to be insecure, slow-witted, and needing guidance by a completely fictional character who was never even mentioned in the Narrative. And how does one go from near hero-worship to lying? Simple: Hollywood. I know that a script writer is not actually very high on the food chain in the movie business, even one of Steinbeck's caliber. But I was thoroughly disappointed that Steinbeck veered so sharply from his original vision. He should have fought for the ideas he first offered and refused to allow the film to be made in any other fashion. Zapata would have stood firm; it is really a shame that Steinbeck did not.

I was intrigued at the creative process displayed in the Narrative. I was touched by the respect shown to the people of Mexico in Steinbeck's awareness of the culture and insistence that it be respected on screen. I was thankful for the chance to read more about a man whose life is endlessly fascinating for me; a man I wish I could sit down and talk with, if only to thank him for being who he was: Emiliano Zapata, my husband's
great-grandfather.

[Hosius Mr · Rating 5 out of 5]

فیلمنامه بسیار جذاب و خواندنی فیلم زنده باد زاپاتا، ساخته الیا کازان، محصول سال 1952 ایالات متحده. بعد از خواندن فیلمنامه کاملا متوجه میشید که چرا میگن فیلمنامه و داستان نقش مهمی در کیفیت نهایی فیلم داره.

اشتاین بک در اینجا هم سنگ تمام گذاشته، جزئیات و فضا سازی های دقیق و زیبا، شخصیت پردازی قوی همراه با دیالوگ های پر معنی
برای بعضی از شخصیت ها از کاراکتر های کتاب های خودش (مثل خوشه های خشم) الهام گرفته شده

کتاب به سه قسمت تقسیم میشه، بخش اول شامل فیلمنامه کامل فیلم، بخش دوم روایت داستان به صورت روان تر و همزمان بررسی فیلمنامه (شرایط نوشتن، اتفاقات قبل و بعد از فیلم)، و بخش سوم هم اختصاص داره به تحلیل جزئی و دقیق کارگردان ، عملکرد و دیدگاه های اون

[Hamidreza Jafaryani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, viva zapataaaaaa

[Davy Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.
Gotta be irritating for Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to see their heroes co-opted by Marlon Brando's.
I worked for one of the last remnants of George HW Bush's company, Zapata Corp.. i still can't think it was anything but devious that he named it Zapata. I think it was an indicator of his true nature. Posing as one thing, while always working to do the establishment's bidding. He wasn't for the people in the long run, and we did get new taxes.

I am not a big fan of Zapata, but he seems to me to have been a man of the people much moreso than Pancho Villa.

[Shaho · Rating 3 out of 5]

بیشتر شبیه نمایشنامس تا داستان، تا اواخر داستان که زاپاتا رئیس جمهور میشه حسی به داستان پیدا نکردم، ولی از لحظه ای که پشت میز جوونی و خاطره مشابهشو بیاد آورد دیگه جذاب شد که اونم ده بیست صفحه بیشتر نبود.

[Yas · Rating 5 out of 5]

امیلیانو زاپاتا❤️
یک فیلمنامه خیلی قشنگ به قلم جان اشتاین‌بک. و فیلمش با بازی مارلون براندو.

|تکه کتاب|

▪︎رهبرها همگی خطاپذیر اند. اشتباه می‌کنند. دنبال کسانی نباشید که خطا نمی‌کنند. چون همچین کسانی وجود ندارند. همه‌ی اونها مثل خودتون‌اند، تغییر میکنند، ترک‌تون میکنند، می‌میرند. بهترین رهبر خود شمایید.

▪︎اون یک مرد نیست. اون یک عقیده است که داره پیشرفت میکنه.

▪︎اون انسانی بود که دنبال صلح می‌گشت اما جنگ نصیبش شد. سربازی که از کشت و کشتار متنفر بود اما هزاران نفر به نام او جان باختن. جنگجوی همیشه زنده‌ای که از روی بیزاری نبرد می‌کرد. اون امیلیانو زاپاتا بود.

[Rêbwar Kurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

زنده‌باد زاپاتا!، نمایشنامه‌ای‌ست نوشتهٔ جان اشتاین‌بک، با زمینه‌ای تاریخی و سیاسی، دربارهٔ یکی از چهره‌های افسانه‌ای انقلاب مکزیک، امیلیانو زاپاتا. اما آن‌چه این اثر را از یک نمایشنامهٔ صرفاً تاریخی فراتر می‌برد، نگاه خاص اشتاین‌بک به مفهوم انقلاب، رهبری، و خیانت است؛ پرسشی عمیق دربارهٔ این‌که آیا می‌توان با قدرت جنگید و آلوده نشد؟ و اگر نشد، پس سرنوشت رهبران صادق چه خواهد بود؟

امیلیانو زاپاتا در این روایت، مردی‌ست خاکی، دور از جاه‌طلبی‌های نظامی، بدون ذوق خطابه یا عطش قدرت. اشتاین‌بک از او قدیسی نمی‌سازد، بلکه انسانی می‌سازد که ناخواسته در طوفان تاریخ پرتاب می‌شود و تمام عمر تلاش می‌کند بین عدالت و قدرت مرز بکشد. زاپاتا در متن، بارها از سیاست دوری می‌کند، به روستا بازمی‌گردد، گاوآهن را ترجیح می‌دهد به صندلی ریاست، اما سرنوشت مدام او را به میدان مبارزه بازمی‌گرداند.

نمایشنامه، برخلاف بسیاری از آثار انقلابی، تصویری رؤیایی و آرمان‌شهری از انقلاب ارائه نمی‌دهد. در عوض، با صداقتی بی‌رحم نشان می‌دهد که چگونه آرمان‌ها دست‌مایهٔ فرصت‌طلبان می‌شوند؛ چطور قدرت، حتی صادق‌ترین‌ها را در خود فرو می‌برد یا نابود می‌کند. برادر زاپاتا – که با اشتیاق وارد نظام انقلابی می‌شود – به تدریج به شخصیتی بی‌چهره در دستگاه قدرت تبدیل می‌شود، و این تضاد میان دو برادر، به کانون دراماتیک و فلسفی نمایش بدل می‌شود: وفاداری به مردم، یا وفاداری به نظامی که به نام مردم شکل گرفته اما در عمل علیه آن‌ها عمل می‌کند؟

اشتاین‌بک در نوشتن این نمایشنامه از تجربیات سفرش به مکزیک و تحقیق میدانی دربارهٔ انقلاب بهره برده، و فیلم‌نامهٔ اصلی را برای الیا کازان نوشت، که در سال ۱۹۵۲ با بازی مارلون براندو در نقش زاپاتا به فیلمی تماشایی بدل شد. فیلم با اینکه بسیاری از وجوه پیچیدهٔ شخصیت را نرم کرده، اما حضور فیزیکی و کاریزماتیک براندو، تصویری جاودانه از زاپاتای عصیان‌گر، خاموش و شریف ساخت. موسیقی الکس نورث و فیلم‌برداری چشم‌نواز، آن فضای اسطوره‌ای را که اشتاین‌بک در کلمات ساخته بود، به تصویر درآوردند؛ اما آن‌چه در لایه‌های زیرین داستان باقی ماند، تضاد میان اخلاق و قدرت بود.

زاپاتا، هم در نمایشنامه و هم در فیلم، از آن شخصیت‌هایی‌ست که پس از پایان داستان، در ذهن مخاطب جا خوش می‌کند. نه به‌خاطر خطابه‌هایش، که ندارد؛ نه به‌خاطر پیروزی‌هایش، که چندان ندارد؛ بلکه به‌خاطر مقاومت آرام، انسانی و صادقانه‌اش در برابر چرخه‌ای که خرد می‌کند. اشتاین‌بک با زبانی موجز اما عاطفی، نه قهرمان می‌سازد، نه شهید؛ بلکه انسانی را نشان می‌دهد که تا آخرین لحظه، از خودش نمی‌گذرد.

زنده‌باد زاپاتا!، بیش از آن‌که دربارهٔ انقلاب مکزیک باشد، دربارهٔ وضعیت ابدی انسان در برابر ساختار قدرت است. دربارهٔ کشاورزی‌ست که بر زمینش پا می‌فشارد و نمی‌گذارد نامش در تقویم‌ها فراموش شود. دربارهٔ صداقتی‌ست که در جهانی کثیف، هر لحظه به قیمت جان تمام می‌شود.

[Falina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't expect to like this screenplay at all and I liked it very much. I'd like to see the movie now, almost as much as I want to see East of Eden. Maybe I need to have a Steinbeck movie night.

[TBuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fast read. I am just facinated with John Steinbeck's writing. It's a lost piece loaded with history.

[Dave Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading John Steinbeck's "Zapata," the second of his thus far five posthumous works.

While the original release "Viva Zapata!" was merely a for print publishing of the movie script for which Anthony Quinn won a Supporting Actor Oscar (Marlon Brando did a stunning job as the title character) this version of the book included a fascinating and novella length narrative by Steinbeck devised as a production and/or directorial dissertation that explained the story of the Mexican revolutionary and the purpose of the story.

For Steinbeck fans (I confess my inclination to the appellation) it is a fascinating read.

The post-script details the history of Steinbeck's movie and television works which only fuels further study and adulation.

Up next: back to the international literature project resuming alphabetically with Austria and a work by one of the surprisingly few Nobel Laureates for literature, Elfriede Jelinek's "The Piano Teacher" which, if I remember correctly, was turned into a pretty intense erotic French film.

This should be fun!

[Gerardo]

I enjoyed reading an interpretation of Zapata's life. I believe that the point of view which Steinbeck gives to this books is important to understand the unique life of one of the greatest warriors of the Mexican Revolution.

[Chi Chi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are interested in Zapata or Steinbeck, then you'll find this interesting. Otherwise, this is a narrative rough draft of what would become the screenplay for Viva Zapata! and reads like such.

[Tiffany France · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not historically accurate. Good additional notes in beginning before scenes start.

[Dr. Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Native American from the Karuk Tribe of Northern California along the Klamath River. I fight for indigenous rights worldwide not only for the sense of fair play (they were there first!), but because indigenous rights usually encompass women's rights and environmental rights. Not all indigenous groups embrace these rights, but they are, nonetheless, the rightful owners of their ancient land. My respect for indigenous Mexico was heretofore based in concepts. As a historian, I can say without hesitation that a history teacher MUST be a good storyteller; otherwise, the facts are lost in the boring, random method. This book by Steinbeck reads better than any history book I've read on Mexican Indians. Steinbeck was fluent in Spanish and was likeable enough that locals opened up to him, giving him specific names, dates, boundary lines. My sequence of study started with Isabel Allende's "The Mark of Zorro", which prompted me to find in the library a movie on Zorro (1941 version), followed by another random channel surfing surprise movie on Pancho Villa, then a book on Pancho Villa, then this amazing insight into Emiliano Zapata's life and times. This book is highly recommended for those who want to better understand Mexico and our relationship with it. And, to wonder why oh why are we always (except the Revolutionary War and WWII) on the wrong side.

[Jenny's Book Life · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason to read this book is if you are a) a film history student or b) doing a total read of Steinbeck. I am in the latter.

It was a struggle and didn't hold my interest, but I'm OCD and finished it with my teeth gritted. The book includes a screen narrative which describes the scenes and two scripts which became the film. I was going to watch the film until my book buddy (who also has been reading Steinbeck with me) said the movie was lame. LOL! Moving on..........

I must say the history might have been a little askew. But what do I know?

[Duane Andersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting screenplay and an exception introduction that puts it in a very solid context in relation to Steinbeck's worldview at the time. I read this before watching the movie, being more interested in Steinbeck than Kazan, but now I definitely need to watch the film. Fittingly, my copy is an old library copy from the Salinas public library.

[Giuseppe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carino, perché lui scrive bene, ma niente a che vedere con i sui romanzi celebri. Lettura interessante per chi ama questo scrittore e vuole “vivere” il clima del periodo rivoluzionario con Zapata. Per il resto è una sceneggiatura per un film, con scene proprie dei film.

[Luca Cresta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un ritratto del Messico rurale fatto da un grande scrittore. Concordo con Steinbeck che Armendariz sarebbe stato uno Zapata perfetto, molto più di Brando. La "penna" dell'autore rende magiche tutte le inquadrature descritte nel testo. Particolare.

[Paula Kirman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steinbeck's only completely original screenplay, with essays explaining the historical and literary contexts.

[Pooya Dorri · Rating 4 out of 5]

History Repeating :)

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good story that kept my interest from start to finish.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

read it for class

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

cool screenplay and detailed notes

[Nicholas Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

"They'll never get him. Can you capture a river? Can you kill the wind?"

[Paul Lindstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's interesting to read John Steinbecks original script for the movie including the background information.

[Zoë Birss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Steinbeck. I was thrilled to discover there was a published screenplay about the Mexican Revolution by him. This 1952 script, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award was probably never meant to just be read like this. But I'm glad I did.

Anyone familiar with the tone and cadence of dramatic film of the 50s will recognize that flavour in this work. It's fascinating to read someone with a voice so familiar to me, writing for a different medium. His dialogue sounds like quality films from the fifties, which is different than his dialogue sounds in his prose. I learned about both Steinbeck and film of that era by seeing this difference.

The story is a fictionalized biography of Emiliano Zapata, rebel leader in the early 1900s in Mexico. In the screenplay, he lives through a revolution, to die fighting the government he helped come to be. The story is beautifully circular, showing the vanity of power and the danger of the pursuit of control and the use of violence. It is simple, a little heavy-handed, and somewhat romantic, too much so to be entirely accurate. But there is a charm to it, especially reading a master of the English language constrained to the rules of this medium in this era. Furthermore, the history is worth knowing. For all its inaccuracies, there is something to be learned in the story, especially if the reader/viewer is inspired by it to look further.

I will definitely be looking for this film. I recommend the screenplay to fans of Steinbeck, classic American literature, classic film, those interested in the stories of the Zapatistas, and other radicals.

[Patdmac7]

In many cases the leaders of revolt have gone over to the other side and have become the dominant class against which a new revolt must be formed. 7

We have, then, at the time of our story, the explosive quality which destroys, eventually, all systems: property accumulated in very few hands and the great mass of the people dispossessed and hungry. 16

'A love letter is art, and there can be no price on art. Art is only what a man feels it is worth.' 27

His grandeur was in his simplicity. 37

And we know little Eufemio will never forget or forgive anything. 66

He is a fighter. A fighter always has caution. 92

It is well known that the man who attacks has more luck than he who defends. 92

But perhaps these people thought that they had to be uncomfortable to be correct. Many people think so. 133

Then it will be that the people will either give up and be slaves or they will fight. If they fight, they will either be beaten or they will win. But at least they will know. That's all I can say. 152

We must arm ourselves with the weapons of our enemies. 171

A thing once won is sold and has to be won all over again. 190

It is the sad hilarity of 3 A.M. 227

I always expect a trick. That is why I have lived as long as I have. I always give my enemy credit for being as intelligent as I am. If he is not, I have lost nothing; if he is, we are at least equal. 242

[Jamie Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zapata contains two versions of a screenplay which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1952. In both versions the main character is the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who fought for the rights of peasants against the wealthy Mexican aristocracy in the early 1900's. Steinbeck spent years conducting research on Zapata in Mexico, and the first version of his story is rich with historical detail. The second version is the actual screenplay, where the reality has been parsed and tweaked to make a better story. It was fascinating to see this process of creation, the art involved in making a simple, compelling movie script from a convoluted history. The first version was also fascinating to read, full as it was of small details about peasant life in Mexico. The overarching theme of both is the eternal fight of humanity against the powerful, always a worthwhile subject, and presented here in a historical and literary context that makes these screenplays worth reading.

[Brit Ta · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting perspective on the Mexican revolution and it's personalities through Steinbeck's eyes. It was entertaining not for it's historical or objective value in my opinion, but because I had not read anything like this in relation to the Mexican revolution (dramatized, screenplay etc.)

[Xander Morar · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

“The two are the same man with different lucks”

Steinbeck’s attention to detail and clear passion in his research of Zapata is impressive, to the point that I enjoyed the introduction and notes of the script far more than I did the story itself. Which is a shame.