Lion of the Desert | |
---|---|
Directed by | Moustapha Akkad |
Written by | H.A.L. Craig |
Produced by | Moustapha Akkad |
Starring | Anthony Quinn Oliver Reed Rod Steiger Raf Vallone |
Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
Edited by | John Shirley |
Music by | Maurice Jarre |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Film Distribution Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 173 minutes |
Countries | Libya United States |
Languages | English Arabic Italian |
Budget | US$35 million [1] |
Box office | $1 million (U.S.) [1] |
Lion of the Desert is a 1981 epic historical war film about the Second Italo-Senussi War, starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader fighting the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army), and Oliver Reed as Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, who defeated Mukhtar. It was directed by Syrian-American director Moustapha Akkad and funded by the Libyan government under Muammar Gaddafi. [2]
Released in May 1981, the film has received positive reviews from critics, but performed poorly at the box office, gaining revenues of US$1.5 million worldwide despite having a $35 million budget. [3] [4] The film was banned in Italy in 1982 and was only shown on pay TV in 2009.
In 1929, Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (Rod Steiger) is still faced with the 10-year-long war waged by patriots in the Italian colony of Libya to combat Italian colonization and the establishment of "The Fourth Shore"—the rebirth of a Roman Empire in Africa. Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed) as his sixth governor of Libya, confident that the eminently accredited soldier and fascist Grande can crush the rebellion and restore the dissipated glories of Imperial Rome. Omar al-Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn) leads the resistance to the fascists. A teacher by profession, guerrilla by obligation, Mukhtar had committed himself to a war that cannot be won in his own lifetime. Graziani controls Libya with the might of the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army). Tanks and aircraft are used in the desert for the first time. The Italians also committed atrocities - killing of prisoners of war, destruction of crops, and imprisoning populations in concentration camps behind barbed wire.
The film starts by introducing the audience to the historical context. This introductory scene is part of historic records that present the rise of fascism in Italy and how it impacted Libya tragically. The scene concludes by stating that the characters and the events in this film are real and based on historical facts. The first scene after the introduction starts with Mussolini in Italy, who created the Fascist Party in Italy, complaining about his generals’ defeats in Libya. To crush the Libyan resistance after 20 years of failure, and after losing five of the best Italian generals, Mussolini sends his most skillful general, Graziani, to Libya. This scene is then contrasted with a scene of Omar Al-Mukhtar, the old teacher who turned into a fighting rebel during the Italian colonization, teaching his young students in Libya. Graziani goes to Libya and starts his campaign to crush the rebellion. The Libyans show great tenacity and make enormous sacrifices to defend their country.
Despite their bravery, the Libyan Arabs and Berbers suffer heavy losses, because their relatively primitive weaponry is no match for mechanised warfare; despite all this, they continue to fight and manage to keep the Italians from achieving complete victory for 20 years. Graziani is only able to achieve victory through deceit, deception, violation of the laws of war and human rights, and by the use of tanks and aircraft.
Omar Al-Mukhtar shows great perseverance and wisdom in leading the resistance movement. He enters into negotiations with the Italians to liberate Libya, but never reaches a deal with them because they pretend to negotiate only to win time. They ask him for significant concessions and promise him some materialistic rewards to end the resistance movement, but Al-Mukhtar never accepts any of that, even after they capture him. They hang him in public to show the Libyans that resisting them is useless, but the resistance does not stop with Al-Mukhtar's death.
Despite the Libyans' lack of modern weaponry, Graziani recognizes the skill of his adversary in waging guerrilla warfare. In one scene, Al-Mukhtar refuses to kill a defenseless young officer, instead giving him the Italian flag to bring home to Italy. Mukhtar says that Islam forbids him from killing captured soldiers and demands that he only fight for his homeland, and that Muslims are taught to hate war itself.
In the end, Mukhtar is captured and tried as a rebel. His lawyer, Captain Lontano, states that since Mukhtar had never accepted Italian rule, he cannot be tried as a rebel and instead must be treated as a prisoner of war (which would save him from being hanged). The judge rejects this assertion, and the film ends with Mukthar being publicly executed by hanging.
The movie was filmed between March 4 and October 2, 1979 in Libya, with the production team living in "living camps" complete with air conditioning, a restaurant, library, billiards, Ping-Pong tables, discotheque, swimming pool, and movie theater. [5] [1] The movie was financed by Muammar Gaddafi. [1]
The musical score of Lion of the Desert was composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.[ citation needed ] The songs "Giovinezza", "Marcia Reale", and "O sole mio" are played, but are not credited.
The Italian authorities banned the film in 1982 because, in the words of Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, it was "damaging to the honor of the army". [6] The last act of the government's intervention against the film was on April 7, 1987, in Trento; afterward, MPs from Democrazia Proletaria asked Parliament to show the movie at the Chamber of Deputies. [6]
The movie was finally broadcast on television in Italy by Sky Italy on June 11, 2009, during the official visit to Italy of Libya's then leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose government funded the movie.
Cinema historian Stuart Galbraith IV writes about the movie: "A fascinating look inside a facet of Arab culture profoundly significant yet virtually unknown outside North Africa and the Arab world. Lion of the Desert is a Spartacus-style, David vs. Goliath tale that deserves more respect than it has to date. It's not a great film, but by the end, it becomes a compelling one." [7] Film critic Vincent Canby writes: "Spectacular… virtually an unending series of big battle scenes." [8] The verdict of British historian Alex von Tunzelmann about the movie is: "Omar Mukhtar has been adopted as a figurehead by many Libyan political movements, including both Gaddafi himself and the rebels currently fighting him. Lion of the Desert is half an hour too long and hammy in places, but its depiction of Italian colonialism and Libyan resistance is broadly accurate." [9] Clint Morris describes the movie as: "A grand epic adventure that'll stand as a highpoint in the producing career of Moustapha Akkad." [10]
On the other hand, film critic C.W. Smith wrote that the "multimillion-dollar spectacular turns out to be a two-hour-and-forty-minute yawn". He complained that the bias in the portrayal of characters was obvious, saying that Graziani was portrayed as a "comic book caricature of a Nazi storm trooper." [5]
The film made $1 million at the box office on its original U.S. release. [1]
Moustapha al Akkad was a Syrian-American film producer and director, best known for producing the original series of Halloween films and directing The Message and Lion of the Desert. He was killed along with his daughter Rima Al Akkad Monla in the 2005 Amman bombings. He is also the cousin to television personality star Tareq Salahi.
The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi are a Muslim political-religious Sufi order and clan in Libya and surrounding regions founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Sanussi, the Algerian Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi.
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli, was an Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's Royal Army, primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and during World War II. A dedicated fascist and prominent member of the National Fascist Party, he was a key figure in the Italian military during the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini.
Fort Capuzzo was a fort in the colony of Italian Libya, near the Libya–Egypt border, next to the Italian Frontier Wire. The Litoranea Balbo ran south from Bardia to Fort Capuzzo, 8 mi (13 km) inland, west of Sollum, then east across the Egyptian frontier to the port over the coastal escarpment. The fort was built during the Italian colonial repression of Senussi resistance in the Second Italo-Senussi War (1923–1931), as part of a barrier on the Libya–Egypt and Libya–Sudan borders.
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino, was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, he became Prime Minister of Italy.
The Italian Social Republic, known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy, but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò, was a German puppet state and fascist rump state with limited diplomatic recognition that was created during the latter part of World War II. It existed from the beginning of the German occupation of Italy in September 1943 until the surrender of Axis troops in Italy in May 1945. The German occupation triggered widespread national resistance against it and the Italian Social Republic, leading to the Italian Civil War.
Omar al-Mukhtār Muḥammad bin Farḥāt al-Manifī, called The Lion of the Desert, known among the colonial Italians as Matari of the Mnifa, was a Libyan revolutionary and Imam who led the native resistance in Cyrenaica under the Senussids, against the Italian colonization of Libya. A teacher-turned-general, Omar was a prominent figure of the Senussi movement and is considered the national hero of Libya and a symbol of resistance in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Beginning in 1911, he organised and led the Libyan resistance movement against the Italian colonial empire during the First and Second Italo-Senussi Wars. Externally, he also fought against the French colonization of Chad and the British occupation of Egypt. After many attempts, the Italian Armed Forces managed to capture Al-Mukhtar near Slonta when he was wounded in battle by Libyan colonial troops, and hanged him in 1931 after he refused to surrender.
Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta was the third Duke of Aosta and a first cousin once removed of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. During World War II, he was the Italian Viceroy of Italian East Africa.
Savari was the designation given to the regular native Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army from 1912 to 1943, in Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica, and later in Italian Libya. The word "savari" was derived from a Persian term for "horsemen" (Savārān).
The Italian colonizationof Libya began in 1911 and it lasted until 1943. The country, which was previously an Ottoman possession, was occupied by Italy in 1911 after the Italo-Turkish War, which resulted in the establishment of two colonies: Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica. In 1934, the two colonies were merged into one colony which was named the colony of Italian Libya. In 1937, this colony was divided into four provinces, and in 1939, the coastal provinces became a part of metropolitan Italy as the Fourth Shore. The colonization lasted until Libya's occupation by Allied forces in 1943, but it was not until the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty that Italy officially renounced all of its claims to Libya's territory.
The military history of Libya covers the period from the ancient era to the modern age.
Libya was a colony of Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, which had been Italian possessions since 1911.
Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony, located in present-day western Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. Italian Tripolitania included the western northern half of Libya, with Tripoli as its main city. In 1934, it was unified with Italian Cyrenaica in the colony of Italian Libya. In 1939, Tripolitania was considered a part of the Kingdom of Italy's 4th Shore.
Italian Cyrenaica was an Italian colony, located in present-day eastern Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, alongside Italian Tripolitania.
The Libyan resistance movement was the rebel force opposing the Italian Empire during its Pacification of Libya between 1923 and 1932.
During the Italian colonization of Libya, the Kingdom of Italy operated several concentration camps. During World War II, Fascist Italy operated several concentration camps and forced labor camps for the local population of Libya.
The Second Italo-Senussi War, also referred to as the Pacification of Libya, was a conflict that occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya between Italian military forces and indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order. The war lasted from 1923 until 1932, when the principal Senussi leader, Omar al-Mukhtar, was captured and executed. The Libyan genocide took place during and after the conflict.
The cinema of Libya has had an uneven history. Though there was little local film production in Italian Libya and the Kingdom of Libya, cinema-going became a popular entertainment activity. From 1973 onwards, Muammar Gaddafi tried to exercise control over cinema. Though he encouraged some local filmmaking, his obstruction of foreign film consumption resulted in the closing of cinemas. In the post-2011 instability in Libya, hopes for a resurgence of Libyan cinema combine with a lack of infrastructure.
The Libyan genocide, also known in Libya as Shar, was the genocide of Libyan Arabs and the systematic destruction of Libyan culture during and after the Second Italo-Senussi War between 1929 and 1934. During this period, between 20,000 and 100,000 Libyans were killed by Italian colonial authorities under Benito Mussolini. Near 50% of the population of Cyrenaica was deported and interned in concentration camps, resulting in a population decline from 225,000 to 142,000 civilians.
The Campaign in Jebel Akhdar refers to the fighting between Italian soldiers and Senussi rebels near the forested and mountainous areas of the Jebel Akhdar. The attacks by the Italians were initially met by strong guerrilla resistance, but this resistance soon fell as the Battle of Uadi Bu Taga took place. This conflict resulted in the execution of the main Senussi leaders and, subsequently, the end of the Italian pacification campaign.