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Actors: Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, John Gielgud,
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Lion in the Desert |
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Between the two worlds wars, there was a fierce, ongoing military battle being waged in the North African desert between Libyan Bedouins and Italian forces. This movie depicts the latter days of these events in the life of Omar Mukhtar (Quinn), a teacher who led the Libyan resistance until about 1931. The conflict, which spanned some 20 years sought to eject the Italians from native Bedouin lands. The Italians wanted the land simply for territorial conquest. The movie begins in 1929 with Mussolini (Rod Steiger) expressing his frustration at continually wasting lira on supporting infantry. He despatches the notoriously cruel Gen. Rodolfo Graziani (Reed) to eliminate the rebels, and he proceeds to do so. There are some extremely graphic scenes of hangings, massacres of women and children, conditions in the concentration camps, and decimation (literally, the practice of killing every tenth person).
--ldpaulson, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Lion in the Desert |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1930's-1950's
War Thriller
Yes
Armed Forces:
- Civilian Resistance
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- teacher/professor
Age:
- 60's-90's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- white
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Arabic
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Main Adversary
Identity:
- enemy army
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
Setting
Africa
Yes
Part of Africa:
- Arabic Africa
Desert?
Yes
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- very gory visuals of deaths and torture
Movie makes you feel...
- concerned
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 2 (a little)
Kind of violence:
- land battles
- hand to hand
- guns
- swords
Unusual forms of death
- hanging
- crushed
- flamed
- impaled
- visually blown into pieces
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Lot of special effects?
Yes
Kinds of F/X
- exploding vehicles
- exploding bombs
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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