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The Desert of the Tartars

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For the novel of the same name, see The Tartar Steppe.
The Desert of the Tartars
Directed byValerio Zurlini
Written byJean-Louis Bertucelli
Screenplay byAndré G. Brunelin
Based onThe Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
Produced byMichelle de Broca
Bahman Farmanara
Enzo Giulioli
StarringVittorio Gassman
Jacques Perrin
Helmut Griem
CinematographyLuciano Tovoli
Edited byRaimondo Crociani
Music byEnnio Morricone
Production
company
Distributed byFilmverlag der Autoren
Quartet Films
NoShame Films
Release date
  • 29 October 1976 (1976-10-29) (Italy)
Running time
140 minutes
CountriesItaly
France
West Germany
Iran
LanguageItalian

The Desert of the Tartars (Italian: Il deserto dei Tartari) is a 1976 Italian film by director Valerio Zurlini with an international cast including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Rey, and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The cast also included veteran Iranian film actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz.

Based on Dino Buzzati's novel The Tartar Steppe and set in about 1900, it tells the story of a young officer in an unnamed army who is sent to an ancient fortress that guards the desert frontier with the Tartars. Filmed in Arg-e Bam, Iran and released on 29 October 1976 in Italy, it was later shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

The film's striking visual style, noted for its scenery, lighting, and cinematography, was influenced by the work of Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico.[2] The score was by Ennio Morricone.

Plot

The first posting of the young lieutenant Drogo is to a remote medieval castle on the frontier of the empire, facing the empty desert of the ferocious Tartars. In this lonely outpost, though no enemy appears, the garrison solemnly goes through all the rituals of military life. Isolation and stress erode them mentally and physically, leading to erratic behaviour and illness. The officers bicker continually and a platoon of soldiers mutinies when one of them is shot for alleged desertion. The commanding officer rides into the desert alone and shoots himself. In the end Drogo too falls ill and, put into a carriage to take him back to civilization, collapses dead.

Cast

Awards

Won

Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Cannes Classics 2013 line-up unveiled". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  2. ^ Rolando Caputo. Literary cineastes: the Italian novel and the cinema. In: Peter E. Bondanella & Andrea Ciccarelli (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. P. 182-196.
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