The Desert of the Tartars

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Audience Member Boring, though the scenery and cast is awesome. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member L'ufficiale Giovanni Drogo, appena nominato sottotenente dell'esercito Austro-Ungarico, viene comandato alla Fortezza Bastiani, un inaccessibile e remoto avamposto militare, dove una nutrita guarnigione di soldati ed ufficiali ha il compito di sorvegliare la frontiera desertica che separa l'impero da una misteriosa ma minacciosa popolazione: i Tartari. L'ufficiale si lascerà presto assimilare a quei rigidi rituali militari che animano quotidianamente la fortezza e i suoi occupanti e ne determinano comportamenti e relazioni, nella attesa di un evento eroico e glorioso, di una invasione, di una battaglia finale dalla quale ognuno potrà ricavare gloria e prestigio. Il tenente Drogo trascorrerà alla fortezza tutta la sua vita nella attesa vana di una minaccia che si concretizzerà proprio nel momento in cui, anziano, stanco e malato, dovrà abbandonare per sempre la guarnigione mentre ingenti rinforzi e nuove truppe, inviate dalla capitale, risaliranno le mulattiere che conducono alla Fortezza Bastiani per combattere i Tartari, che finalmente avranno attraversato il deserto e attaccato l'impero. [it.wikipedia.org] Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member One should watch The Desert of the Tartars twice because the first time is spent trying to overcome the films seemingly monotonous store and understand its underlying theme while the second time is spent appreciating the artistic aspects that enhanced the visual style that made this a classic film. Descriptions of Valerio Zurliniâ(TM)s theatrical interpretation of Dino Buzzatiâ(TM)s novel provided by other reviewers contain expressions such as âa classic of surreal literature ⦠a nightmarish and dark vision of humanity and its shortcomings,â? âa metaphor of ⦠spiritual imprisonment,â? âmystical challenges of the landscape,â? and âKafkaesque symbolism.â? However, the temptation to ascribe the label of surreal to anything strange is overplayed in the film based on my interpretation as well as in the novel according to Parks. The dialogue is sparse but reflective of the high desert altitude in which the story is set and yet there are tones of human warmth in the comradeship of solders. Captain Horitzâ(TM)s description of Fort Bastianoâ(TM)s location to Lieutenant Drogo as: âA border with nothing on the other side of it. Beyond the Fort is a desert ⦠and then nothingâ? conveys the feeling of alienation while the doctorâ(TM)s reply to Dragoâ(TM)s statement that he has been assigned of this outpost by mistake: âHere or elsewhere ⦠weâ(TM)re all somewhere by mistakeâ? alludes to a more fundamental question; that question involves existence, what is its purpose and what is beyond it? Clearly the film has an existential flavor rather than one of surreality which juxtaposes objects within an irrational environment in order to see reality. An existential viewpoint is further buttressed by the use of field glasses throughout the film to peer into the mist and darkness beyond the Fortâ(TM)s border in order to unravel what lies beyond. There is an expectation of hope among of some within the confines of the Fort conflicted with an irrational bureaucratic policy that will not acknowledge anything beyond. Part of the preoccupation with surreality by others may be due to the influence of the Italian surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico on the production of the film and his painting "La Torre Rossa" is claimed by others to have been influential in the selection of the 14th Century fortress of Bam in southeastern Iran to shoot the film. While this painting certainly evokes a feeling reminiscent of the filmâ(TM)s location, such a feeling is lost upon closer inspection due to the modernity of the towerâ(TM)s surrounding structures. Nonetheless, the filmâ(TM)s visual style has been claimed by Caputo to be directly influenced by de Chirico's La m´editation automnale (1912), La m´elancolie (1912), and Lâ(TM)´enigme dâ(TM)une journ´ee (1914) and the use of the mannequin as âone of the most crucial and diffuse icons of the Metaphysical School.â? According to Caputo, Zurlini incorporated de Chirico's visual style to bring out the visual dimension of the of Buzzati's novel; âThe most sophisticated film adaptations involve words filtered through the discourse of the visual.â? References: Rolando Caputo, Literary Cineastes: The Italian Novel and the Cinema, in The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel Edited by Peter Bondanella and Andrea Ciccarelli. Tim Parks, "Throwing Down a Gauntlet," The Threepenny Review Winter 2001 Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member A great existential downer of a movie (that's a positive review from me). Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Slow-paced drama about a young officer's first assignment at a border post. It's a film about boredom that happens to take big jumps in time, as the officer's stay lengthens and rumors of the Tartars abound. It's also a film a little about fate, as many believe they're meant to be there, awaiting the attack that never seems to come. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member (*** 1/2): Thumbs Up A haunting and hypnotic film at times. Well-acted and directed. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Desert of the Tartars

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