The Desert of the Tartars (1976)

That was an excellent one.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

best movie i've ever seen.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

and more than an admirable novel adaptation. a kind of experience who seduce and transforms. the images, the acting, the dialogs, the atmosphere. one of rare films who can give the feeling of deep, delicate, bitter and terrible work. because, after years, after so many blockbusters and art movies, "Il deserto dei tartari" remains a special gem, support for a lot of emotions, discoveries and silence sides. before see the film, read the book ! not for compare. not for understand the story. but only for magnificent circle defined by the two pieces of it. the music, the cast, the images. a terrible masterpiece. about basic things. about expectation price. and, sure, about reality. more than a film. or a parable. maybe, only an open window. surely, a rare masterpiece.

I read Dino Buzzati's novel The Tartar Steppe in 2008. The delicacy and depth with which it tackled ideas and feelings central to human existence, plus the beauty and weightlessness of the writing, made it one of my favourite novels. Then I discovered Valerio Zurlini, an Italian director unknown to me, had adapted it to cinema. For more than a year I relished in the idea of watching this movie.Long before watching it I had already heard Ennio Morricone's score, which brought to mind the sadness and nostalgia the novel produced in me. My interest grew as I contemplated seeing how the movie and music would complement each other. I've now seen the movie, and although my favourite tracks don't play as much as I wish they did, Il Deserto dei Tartari will remain forever as one of the most enjoyable and most beautiful film experiences of my life.The movie follows the novel closely plot-wise: young Lieutenant Drogo leaves the Kingdom's capital to take his post at the remote border Fortress of Bastiano, where soldiers and officers have held watch for decades in anticipation of an attack from the mysterious Tartars, the desert people on the other side of the border. Bastiano is a dead place and unsuitable for anyone wanting to make a name for himself in the army since there's little evidence there will ever be a war there. But some endure and wait patiently for the day their patience will be rewarded and war comes and they can achieve glory.Poor Drogo is caught in this oppressive game of patience, constantly torn between the idea of leaving, the shame of leaving (or deserting, as he feels it), or staying and waiting for the Tartars. As the years and decades pass, the movie shows us what men will sacrifice for a moment to validate their absurd existence, how they'll waste their entire lives waiting for something that may never come.In this atmosphere friends leave, others die. Some grow old and retire, some are promoted. And always life goes on without much change. In a movie where fundamental aspects of human life are explored, it's no wonder that this movie is filled with scenes of intimacy and beauty. It's always heartbreaking when friends bid farewell, and there are many farewell scenes in this movie, some of the best I've seen. It's also sad to see when Tartars are spotted and the soldiers build up hopes, only to have them thwarted again and again.The cast gathers some of the best European actors of the time: Jacques Perrin plays Drogo; Vittorio Gassman plays the Fortress' Colonel Filimore, an experienced and sensible man who contrasts with Major Mattis (Giuliano Gemma), a fanatic for rules and order. Max Von Sydow gives my favourite performance of the movie as Hortiz, a seasoned officer who embodies the hope that one's life dedicated to the Fortress will be validated by a Tartar attack. Smaller roles are filled in by amazing actors like Jean-Louis Trintignant, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, Philippe Noirte and Helmut Griem.From a visual point of view the movie is gorgeous. I read that Zurlini used Giorgio de Chirico's paintings to capture the feel of silence and stillness of the movie, and it shows. As the screen fills with vast landscapes and decrepit buildings, one can see de Chirico's mysterious piazzas and desolate buildings. Complemented by one of Morricone's best scores, Il Deserto dei Tartari stands as a great cinematic achievement.

If you're expecting an action film, then you'll be disappointed. If you'd like to experience a different type of war film, then you're in for a treat. The premise is simple, a junior officer is sent on his first posting to a distance fort on the outskirts of the empire. With the isolation goes promotion opportunities and perhaps imminent glory on the battle field. The problem is that no one has seen the "Northern Kingdom" soldiers for sure, but signs of advanced scouting parties keep the men's hopes up and helps to alleviate the daily grind of training and preparation. The belief that a border incursion is pending has kept some of soldiers at the fort for their entire careers. The cinematography is spectacular and works hand in hand with the tension of anticipation. The viewer is effectively drawn into the stiff military culture and the mentality of the soldiers, but like them you have a sinking feeling that although the day of reckoning is very close it may never come.

A film over two hours long set in a remote desert fort, with an all male cast and no action, may seem a daunting prospect, however THE DESERT OF THE TARTARS is a strikingly memorable experience. The characters are full of suppressed emotion and inner turmoil, the strange surrealistic fort a metaphor of their spiritual imprisonment, and the huge expanse of surrounding desert a tangent reminder, day by day, and year by year, of their fears and lost aspirations.Time passes imperceptibly, and our dashing young lieutenant, played by Jacques Perrin and surrounded by a stellar male cast, ages and weakens as the desert and the constraints of life in the fort strips away his physical strength and inner resolve. He yearns to free himself of the debilitating fort's influence, but finds himself transfixed by the mystical challenges of the landscape, and the perceived danger from the unseen enemy beyond.The dust of the desert, the artificiality of the military life within the walls of the fort, the rituals and uniforms, the unspoken fears, the friendships and animosities between brother officers, the authority that seldom explains it's decisions, the half-recalled memories of a former life, and the ever present foreboding created by the shadows of the desert, shadows that sometimes give rise to visions of a lurking threat that may, or may not, be hidden in those shadows.Exemplary colour widescreen photography is aided immeasurably by the haunting themes written by Ennio Moricone, and at the disquieting and ominous conclusion of the film, we are indeed completely mesmerized by an impressionistic, visionary spectacle that will haunt us for a long time after the final credits roll.