''Lion of the Desert'' is a 1980 epic

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

about the

Second Italo-Senussi War 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 (composed mainly of colonial troops from Libya, Eritrea, and Soma ...

, starring

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...

leader fighting the ''Regio Esercito'' ( Royal Italian Army) and

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

General Rodolfo Graziani, who defeated Mukhtar. It was directed by

Moustapha Akkad Moustapha Al Akkad ( ar, مصطفى العقاد; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian-American film producer and director, best known for producing the original series of '' Halloween'' films and directing '' The Message'' and ...

and funded by the government under

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Muammar Gaddafi. Released in May 1981, the film has received positive reviews from critics, but performed poorly at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fre ...

, gaining revenues of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.5 million worldwide despite having a $35 million budget. The film was banned in Italy in 1982 and was only shown on pay TV in 2009.

Plot

In 1929,

fascist dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

(

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

) 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 Fourth Shore (in Italian ''Quarta Sponda'') or Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana/ASI) was the name created by Benito Mussolini to refer to the Mediterranean shore of coastal colonial Italian Libya and WWII Italian Tunisia ...

"—the rebirth of a

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

in Africa. Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani (

) 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 Omar al-Mukhṭār Muḥammad bin Farḥāṭ al-Manifī ( ar, عُمَر الْمُخْتَار مُحَمَّد بِن فَرْحَات الْمَنِفِي ; 20 August 1858 – 16 September 1931), called The Lion of the Desert, known among ...

(

) 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 Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

behind barbed wire. The film starts by introducing the audience to the historical context of the film. 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 telling us 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 The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

in Italy, complaining about his generals’ defeats in Libya. In order to crush the Libyan resistance after twenty 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-Mokhtar, 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 suffered heavy losses, because their relatively primitive weaponry was no match for mechanised warfare; despite all this, they continued to fight and managed to keep the Italians from achieving complete victory for 20 years. Graziani was 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-Mokhtar 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 captured him. They hang him in public to show the Libyans that resisting them is useless, but the resistance does not stop with his death. Despite the Libyans' lack of modern weaponry, Graziani recognized the skill of his adversary in waging guerrilla warfare. In one scene, Mukhtar refuses to kill a defenseless young officer, instead giving him the

Italian flag The national flag of Italy ( it, Bandiera d'Italia, ), often referred to in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ) is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white and red, national colours of Italy, with t ...

to bring home to Italy. Mukhtar says that Islam forbids him to kill 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, and the film ends with Mukthar being publicly executed by hanging.

Cast

as General Rodolfo Graziani * Irene Papas as Mabrouka *

Raf Vallone The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as Diodiece *

as Mussolini *

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

as El Gariani *

Andrew Keir Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career ...

as Salem *

Gastone Moschin Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Career Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began h ...

as Tomelli * Stefano Patrizi as Sandrini *

Adolfo Lastretti Adolfo may refer to: * Adolfo, São Paulo, a Brazilian municipality * Adolfo (designer), Cuban-born American fashion designer * Adolfo or Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in ...

as Sarsani *

Sky du Mont Sky du Mont (born Cayetano Neven du Mont; 20 May 1947) is a German-Argentine actor. Early life Sky du Mont's family, who are related to the famous publishers DuMont Schauberg, fled the Nazis in the 1930s to South America. He was born in Argen ...

Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta (Amedeo Umberto Isabella Luigi Filippo Maria Giuseppe Giovanni di Savoia-Aosta; 21 October 1898 – 3 March 1942) was the third Duke of Aosta and a first cousin, once removed of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanu ...

* Takis Emmanuel as Bu-Matari *

Rodolfo Bigotti Rodolfo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Rodolfo (footballer, born 1992), Brazilian footballer Rodolfo José da Silva Bardella * Rodolfo Albano III, Filipino politician * Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. (1928-2012), Filipino actor ...

as Ismail * Robert Brown as Al Fadeel *

Eleonora Stathopoulou Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was intro ...

as Ali's Mother *

Luciano Bartoli Luciano Bartoli (17 October 1946 – 1 February 2019) was an Italian actor. Biography Bartoli began his film career in 1967, at the age of 21, starring in Pier Paolo Pasolini's '' Oedipus Rex'', while during the 1970s and the 1980s he alternated ...

as Captain Lontano * Claudio Goro as Court President *

Giordano Falzoni Giordano may refer to: People * Giordano (name) * Giordano (footballer) (born 1993), Brazilian footballer * Umberto Giordano, or simply Giordano, Italian composer Businesses * Giordano International, a Hong Kong-based, global clothing retailer *G ...

as Judge at Camp * Franco Fantasia as Graziani's Aide *

Ihab Werfaly Ihab is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority based in the Hamas-administrated Gaza Strip * Ihab Al-Sherif (1954–2005), served as Egypt's a ...

as Ali

Music

The musical score of ''Lion of the Desert'' was composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre, and it was performed by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. The songs ''

Giovinezza "Giovinezza" ( – ) is the official hymn of the Italian National Fascist Party, regime, and army, and was an unofficial national anthem of the Kingdom of Italy between 1924 and 1943.Farrell, Nicholas. 2005. ''Mussolini: a New Life''. Sterling Pub ...

'', ''

Marcia Reale The ''Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza'' (; "Royal March of Ordinance") or ''Fanfara Reale'' (; "Royal Fanfare") was the official national anthem of the Kingdom of Italy between 1861 and 1946. It was composed in 1831 by Giuseppe Gabetti to the order of ...

'' and ''

O sole mio "O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title tra ...

'' are played but are not credited.

Soundtrack

Track Listing for the First Release on LP

=Side one (19:12)

= # Omar the Teacher # Italian Invasion # Resistance # The Lion of the Desert

=Side two (19:33)

= # The Displacement # The Concentration Camp # The Death # March of Freedom

Track listing for the first release on CD

# Omar the Teacher (04:26) # Prelude: Libya 1929 (02:24) # The Execution of Hamid (05:04) # Desert Ambush (01:46) # Omar Enters Camp (04:15) # The Empty Saddle # March to Demination (05:19) # Ismail's Sacrifice (02:36) # I Must Go (02:27) # Graziani's Triumph (01:41) # Entr'acte (02:19) # Concentration Camp (03:15) # Italian Invasion (01:32) # Starvation (00:53) # The Hanging (01:27) # General Graziani (03:00) # Charge (01:23) # Phoney Triumph (04:38) # Omar's Wife (03:22) # Omar Taken (02:38) # The Death of Omar (01:38) # March of Freedom (With Choir) (03:59)

Censorship in Italy

The Italian authorities banned the film in 1982 because, in the words of Prime Minister

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democrac ...

, it was "damaging to the honor of the army". The last act of the government's intervention against the film was on April 7, 1987, in Trento; afterward, MPs from

Democrazia Proletaria Proletarian Democracy ( it, Democrazia Proletaria, DP) was a far-left political party in Italy. History 1970s DP was founded in 1975 as a joint electoral front of the Proletarian Unity Party (PdUP), Workers Vanguard (AO) and the "Workers Movemen ...

asked Parliament to show the movie at the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

. The movie was finally broadcast on television in Italy by

Sky Italy Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an agre ...

on June 11, 2009 during the official visit to Italy of Libya's then leader Muammar Gaddafi. In 2015, the book '' Staging Memory'' by

Stefania Del Monte ''Stefania'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hemiphractidae. They are native to the highlands of the Guiana Shield in southern Venezuela, Guyana, and adjacent far northern Brazil. Most are restricted to the tepui highlands, but '' S. evansi ...

dedicates a whole section to the movie.

Reception

Cinema historian

Stuart Galbraith IV Stuart Eugene Galbraith IV (born December 29, 1965) is an American film historian, film critic, essayist, and audio commentator. Early life and education Raised in Livonia, Michigan, Galbraith first worked professionally as a film reviewer and ...

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." The verdict of British historian

Alex von Tunzelmann Alex von Tunzelmann (born 1977) is a British historian, screenwriter and author. Early life and education Tunzelmann has stated that her surname is of German ancestry originating in Saxony in Germany and that she has family connections from Es ...

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."

Film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

writes: "Spectacular… virtually an unending series of big battle scenes."

Clint Morris Clint Morris is an Australian entertainment writer, publicist and producer. He is the CEO of publicity and publishing firm October Coast, a partner in October Coast Entertainment and a partner in the production company Shorris Film, with produc ...

describes the movie as: "A grand epic adventure that'll stand as a highpoint in the producing career of Moustapha Akkad."

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

, 8 July 2010, Review by Clint Morris

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lion Of The Desert 1980 films 1980 drama films 1980s biographical films 1980s historical films 1980s war films English-language Libyan films War epic films War films based on actual events American films based on actual events Films about Benito Mussolini Films directed by Moustapha Akkad Films set in Libya Films set in Italy Films set in 1929 Films set in 1931 Films shot in Libya Films scored by Maurice Jarre Films about Islam Guerrilla warfare in film Film controversies in Italy 1980s English-language films