I don’t think that Quien sabe! is a naive film.
It’s not the most complex film compared to other “political” films of these days (Godard, Rocha, Rosi), it’s a more commercial one with more action and less reflection. It can be criticised for being not consequent, but naive it ain’t.
A leftist film which shows the revolutionaries executing captives (which are only average soldiers), or which contains the complex scene with the weak landowner and his strong wife (and the shooting of Guapo) does not make itself too much illusions about the difference between ideas and what they become in reality. The only person in the film who really seems to believe in the revolution is a stupid fanatic (Kinski). Chuncho is a fool whose main interest is money and his moment of illumination is an emotional one not a rational one. We don’t get much information about the leader who seems to be a integer man, but in the few scenes we see him he is associated with a couch, which is a pretty decadent symbol in a western about an uprising of the starving peasants.
No, this ain’t a naive film, nor are the other 2 Zapatas (Tepepa, Mercernary) which can be called “serious” in dealing with leftist ideas.
And generally I also don’t think that the majority of SWs are naive. Many are primitive, but naive are mainly the early ones.
I have no problems with enjoying naive films, but the greatest pleasure lies in the end in complex films. Film for body and mind. And “mind” is more about structure than messages, generally I don’t appreciate message films.
And Quien sabe! is much more than a good meaning simple message film.