Lion of the Desert
| Lion of the Desert | |
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Lion of the Desert DVD cover
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| Lion of the Desert | |
| Directed by | Moustapha Akkad |
| Produced by | Moustapha Akkad |
| Written by | H.A.L. Craig |
| Starring |
Anthony Quinn Oliver Reed Rod Steiger Raf Vallone |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
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Production
company |
Falcon International Productions
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| Distributed by | United Film Distribution Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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163 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$35 million |
Lion of the Desert is a 1981 Libyan historical action film starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader fighting the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) in the years leading up to World War II, and Oliver Reed as Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, who attempted to defeat Mukhtar. It was directed by Moustapha Akkad and funded by the government under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Released in May 1981, the film was liked by critics and audiences but performed poorly financially, bringing in just $1 million net worldwide.. The film was banned in Italy in 1982 and was only shown on pay TV in 2009.
In 1929, Italian 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: killing of prisoners of war, destruction of crops, and imprisoning populations in concentration camps behind barbed wire.
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Wikipedia