Claudio Carvalho In the Fascist Italy Pre-World War II of Benito Mussolini (Rod Steiger), the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed) is directly assigned by Il Dulce to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab nation. However, his troops are frequently defeated by the national leader Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn) and his army of Bedouins. But the Butcher of Ethiopia and Libya uses a dirty war against the natives, slaughtering children, women and aged people, to subdue Mukhtar."Lion of the Desert" is an epic masterpiece that shows part of the cruel colonization of Arab population, this time showing the fascist army of Mussolini in Libya.This movie is simply among the best I have ever seen, with magnificent direction, performances, dialogs, cinematography and music score by Maurice Jarre. The work of Moustapha Akkad is perfect and it is amazing the reality of the battle scenes in a time where the industry did not use computer to simulate them. He also entwines footages from archive with the realistic scenes.Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed give the performance of their lives and their duel is among best in the cinema industry, and supported by names such as Irene Paps, Raf Vallone, Rod Steiger and John Gielgud among others. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): "O Leão do Deserto" ("The Lion of the Desert")

Andres Salama Now that Libya is in the news, it might be good to look at this film, made 30 years ago. It deals with the two decades long rebellion by one Omar Mukhtar against the Italian colonial authorities in Libya, and how it was finally suppressed, through ruthless means, by the army of Mussolini in 1931. This movie was famously financed by Gaddhafi, whose funds allowed this relatively unknown war to be brought to the screen with a decent budget. The director was Syria's Mustapha Akkad, who would die two decades and a half later in a terrorist bombing. With its fine battle scenes, showing a diversity of military tactics, I think that military buffs will especially appreciate this film. The movie naturally has an anti colonialist point of view, but it's not unfair to the Italians, who are the center of much of the movie (despite this, this movie was banned in Italy for decades). As a movie dealing with the anti colonial struggle in the Arab world it can be favorably compared to the Battle of Algiers (Lawrence of Arabia is another movie that comes to mind). Anthony Quinn is impressive as the old, noble Omar, but the best performance of the movie to me is by Oliver Reed, as the brilliant but ruthless Italian general Graziani. Unfortunately, Rod Steiger, in his brief role as the Duce, just doesn't cut it, it looks like a poor parody and he even looks embarrassed to be there. And while not as bad a performance, John Gielgud is just not believable in his supporting role as an Arab sheik allied with the Italians. The movie could have been a bit tighter as well (it's almost three hours long) but despite these minor flaws, I recommended strongly.

reop Although I strongly disagree with the ban issued by Italian authorities (which represents an infringement upon the filmmaker's freedom of expression and the viewers' freedom of documentation), I cannot help but think that the film is pure negative propaganda against the Italian army and the Fascist colonial policy. Moreover, it is propaganda boarding on caricature. Rod Steiger as Mussolini is not much different from Charlie Chapling (or Mel Brooks) imitating Hitler. Antony Quinn, as Omar Mukhtar, is.....too good to be true. The film is certainly highly professional; the reconstruction of Palazzo Venezia (Mussolini's headquarters) stunning and the accuracy in re-creating the 1922 weapons very credible. Colonialism was definitely a sad page in Western History, but it cannot be judged with the 21st Century mentality. By depicting the Italians "all bad", and the Muslims "all good", I am afraid we open the road to a future film where the Westerners will be, once again, "all bad", whereas the "all good" will be Osama Bin Laden

OttoVonB Prelude to WWII. Omar Mukhtar, a brilliant Bedouin leader, wages war against oppressive Italian Fascist forces (led by the bloodthirsty General Graziani) in his native Lybia.Director Moustapha Akkad (The Message) clearly learnt a few lessons from "Lawrence of Arabia", mainly how best to use the charismatic Anthony Quinn. As Mukhtar, Quinn gives a nuanced portrayal of compassion and wisdom. Whenever he features in a scene, it becomes impossible to tear one's eyes off the screen. Thankfully, Oliver Reed proves a magnificently cruel and seething counterpoint as General Graziani. Irene Papas provides strong supporting work and Rod Steiger turns in a delightful cameo as Benito Musslini.Moustapha Akkad uses a solid structure and keeps it riveting throughout, extracting fine performances from all his actors and technical collaborators. Where "The Message" was impressive but cold (due to its invisible hero and reverence), "Lion in the Desert" has an emotional core and throws up scene after impressive scene. The desert battle scenes are incredibly messy and savage and have a sense of multiple individual action amid chaos, rather than elaborate choreography. This perfectly suits the theme of Bedouin guerrilla. Production values are considerable and Maurice Jarre provides one of his most underrated scores.Some viewers will find qualms with the fact that, despite the coda that proclaims that Lybia managed to liberate itself, the country was then for long under the oppressive rule of Kadaffi. In truth, this little addition might have something to do with the fact that Kadaffi assisted in funding the film. If you can overlook this (not to difficult), you can appreciate the true focus: Mukhtar. This remains a beautiful film about a people's resistance."Lion in the Desert" is an important film, if only because it offers a very accessible (to Western audiences) Arab perspective. It is also impressively well made: an accomplished chapter in the era of great epics that flourished with David Lean's masterpieces and ended with Richard Attenbourgh's Gandhi.See this!