Plot
In 1929, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (Rod Steiger) is still faced with the 20-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 to Libya, confident that the eminently accredited soldier and fascist Grande can crush the rebellion and restore the dissipated glories of Imperial Rome. Omar 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 (Italian Royal Army). Tanks and aircraft are used in the desert for the first time. The Italians also committed atrocities: the killing of prisoners of war, destruction of crops, and imprisoning populations in concentration camps behind barbed wire.
Cast
Anthony Quinn as Omar Mukhtar
Oliver Reed as General Graziani
Irene Papas as Mabrouka
Raf Vallone as Diodiece
Rod Steiger as Mussolini
Sir John Gielgud as El Gariani
Andrew Keir as Salem
Gastone Moschin as Tomelli
Stefano Patrizi as Sandrini
Adolfo Lastretti as Sarsani
Sky du Mont as Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
Takis Emmanuel as Bu-Matari
Rodolfo Bigotti as Ismail
Robert Brown as Al Fadeel
Eleonora Stathopoulou as Ali's Mother
Luciano Bartoli as Captain Lontano
Claudio Goro as Court President
Giordano Falzoni as Judge at Camp
Franco Fantasia as Graziani's Aide
Ihab Werfaly 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.
Soundtrack
Track Listing for the First Release on LP
SIDE One
Omar the Teacher / Italian Invasion / Resistance / The Lion of the Desert (19:12)
SIDE Two
The Displacement / The Concentration Camp / The Death/March of Freedom (19:33)
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 (01:49)
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 had banned the film in 1982 because, in the words of Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, it was "damaging to the honor of the army".[4] 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.[4]
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.
This is the story of the late Omar Mukhtar, an elderly rebel who spent the last two decades of his life struggling against European colonialism and specifically Italian Fascism in Libya. Note that some of the characters in this dramatization (like Sandrini) are fictional, but almost certainly had numerous real‐life analogues.
As long as you can tolerate depictions of warfare, there is no better gift that you could give me than merely watching this film. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Going to have to watch this now. Thanks for the recommendation.
Edit: watched it. Incredible film. Western school children should have to watch it. Unfortunately, children in much of the rest of the world would probably find it a bit too close to home.
