Movies made throughout history are typically made at one point in time and not over the course of many years. Movies such as Wizard of Oz and Bambi were made over the course of possibly one or two years, Que Viva Mexico was not the case, Eisenstein died before he was able to complete the movie. Someone else completed it for him in the way that they thought Eisenstein would want it to be made. The movie Que Viva Mexico had a big concentration on religion. Throughout the movies different religious practices reappear.
At the beginning of the movie it shows the celebration of the Virgin Mary, then it continues with the parade that happens throughout the days, and the movie also shows men carrying cactus poles with rope tied to their arms. The movie also shows the celebration of the Day of the Dead, there are also parts in the movie where marriage is a role. Religion is and has always been a big topic of debate in the world. Events take place based on religion, millions of Jews were killed because of their religion in German during the Nazi regime. This is just one of the many examples that occur in the world where people are killed based on religion.
Another theme that occurs in Que Viva Mexico is the romance story, the romance story in this movie is one between a man and a woman who are getting married, although the bride is being abused and held captive by the husbands boss. This makes the husband very angry and he attempts to try and save his wife, he and his friends who attempted to help him are then all captured, buried up to their chests and then trampled to death by horse riders. This is an imortant part of the movie Que Viva Mexico because it shows that many movies have a love story and the consequences that come from this. It also shows how the women were treated back then and what their social status was. Women were not treated as they are today and sometimes the ones that loved them and tried to save them from being used and abused could not even save them. This is what it looked like in the early 1900's in Mexico.
Eisenstein may or may not be satisfied with the result of which the movie turned out but one could say that it does depict what occurs in Mexico and the Mexican traditions very well.
The section on the trampling was very interesting. The Hacendado's defense against the revolt included his own wife coming to defeat the rebels (meeting her own demise ultimately). Leading to two teams with similar goals, to defend honor, either the young lady who was to marry the servant, or the hacendado who felt it was his right to take the woman as his mistress. The trampling was a way for the hacendado to assert his authority one final time and kill the rebels for taking up arms against the hacienda.
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