Lion of the Desert

In 1929, Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (Rod Steiger) is still faced with the 10-year-long war waged by patriots in the Italian colony of Libya to combat Italian colonization and the establishment of "The Fourth Shore"—the rebirth of a Roman Empire in Africa. Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed) as his sixth governor of Libya, confident that the eminently accredited soldier and fascist Grande can crush the rebellion and restore the dissipated glories of Imperial Rome. Omar al-Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn) leads the resistance to the fascists. A teacher by profession, guerrilla by obligation, Mukhtar had committed himself to a war that cannot be won in his own lifetime. Graziani controls Libya with the might of the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army). Tanks and aircraft are used in the desert for the first time. The Italians also committed atrocities - killing of prisoners of war, destruction of crops, and imprisoning populations in concentration camps behind barbed wire.

The film starts by introducing the audience to the historical context of the film. This introductory scene is part of historic records that present the rise of fascism in Italy and how it impacted Libya tragically. The scene concludes by stating that the characters and the events in this film are real and based on historical facts. The first scene after the introduction starts with Mussolini in Italy, who created the Fascist Party in Italy, complaining about his generals’ defeats in Libya. To crush the Libyan resistance after 20 years of failure, and after losing five of the best Italian generals, Mussolini sends his most skillful general, Graziani, to Libya. This scene is then contrasted with a scene of Omar Al-Mokhtar, the old teacher who turned into a fighting rebel during the Italian colonization, teaching his young students in Libya. Graziani goes to Libya and starts his campaign to crush the rebellion. The Libyans show great tenacity and make enormous sacrifices to defend their country.

Despite their bravery, the Libyan Arabs and Berbers suffered heavy losses, because their relatively primitive weaponry was no match for mechanised warfare; despite all this, they continued to fight and managed to keep the Italians from achieving complete victory for 20 years. Graziani was only able to achieve victory through deceit, deception, violation of the laws of war and human rights, and by the use of tanks and aircraft.

Omar Al-Mokhtar shows great perseverance and wisdom in leading the resistance movement. He enters into negotiations with the Italians to liberate Libya, but never reaches a deal with them because they pretend to negotiate only to win time. They ask him for significant concessions and promise him some materialistic rewards to end the resistance movement, but Al-Mukhtar never accepts any of that, even after they captured him. They hang him in public to show the Libyans that resisting them is useless, but the resistance does not stop with his death.

Despite the Libyans' lack of modern weaponry, Graziani recognized the skill of his adversary in waging guerrilla warfare. In one scene, Mukhtar refuses to kill a defenseless young officer, instead giving him the Italian flag to bring home to Italy. Mukhtar says that Islam forbids him to kill captured soldiers and demands that he only fight for his homeland, and that Muslims are taught to hate war itself.

In the end, Mukhtar is captured and tried as a rebel. His lawyer, Captain Lontano, states that since Mukhtar had never accepted Italian rule, he cannot be tried as a rebel and instead must be treated as a prisoner of war (which would save him from being hanged). The judge rejects this, and the film ends with Mukthar being publicly executed by hanging.

• Anthony Quinn as Omar al-Mukhtar
• Oliver Reed as General Rodolfo Graziani
• Irene Papas as Mabrouka
• Raf Vallone as Diodiece
• Rod Steiger as Mussolini
• John Gielgud as El Gariani
• Andrew Keir as Salem
• Gastone Moschin as Tomelli
• Stefano Patrizi as Sandrini
• Adolfo Lastretti as Sarsani
• Sky du Mont as Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
• Takis Emmanuel as Bu-Matari
• Rodolfo Bigotti as Ismail
• Robert Brown as Al Fadeel
• Eleonora Stathopoulou as Ali's Mother
• Luciano Bartoli as Captain Lontano
• Claudio Goro as Court President
• Giordano Falzoni as Judge at Camp
• Franco Fantasia as Graziani's Aide
• Ihab Werfaly as Ali

The musical score of Lion of the Desert was composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The songs "Giovinezza", "Marcia Reale", and "O sole mio" are played, but are not credited.

The Italian authorities banned the film in 1982 because, in the words of Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, it was "damaging to the honor of the army".[4] The last act of the government's intervention against the film was on April 7, 1987, in Trento; afterward, MPs from Democrazia Proletaria asked Parliament to show the movie at the Chamber of Deputies.[4]

The movie was finally broadcast on television in Italy by Sky Italy on June 11, 2009, during the official visit to Italy of Libya's then leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose government funded the movie.

In 2015, the book Staging Memory by Stefania Del Monte dedicates a whole section to the movie.

Cinema historian Stuart Galbraith IV writes about the movie: "A fascinating look inside a facet of Arab culture profoundly significant yet virtually unknown outside North Africa and the Arab world. Lion of the Desert is a Spartacus-style, David vs. Goliath tale that deserves more respect than it has to date. It's not a great film, but by the end, it becomes a compelling one."[5]

The verdict of British historian Alex von Tunzelmann about the movie is: "Omar Mukhtar has been adopted as a figurehead by many Libyan political movements, including both Gaddafi himself and the rebels currently fighting him. Lion of the Desert is half an hour too long and hammy in places, but its depiction of Italian colonialism and Libyan resistance is broadly accurate."[6]

Film critic Vincent Canby writes: "Spectacular… virtually an unending series of big battle scenes."[7]

Clint Morris describes the movie as: "A grand epic adventure that'll stand as a highpoint in the producing career of Moustapha Akkad."[8]

• The Battle of Algiers, a similar movie about Algerian resistance against French occupation
• Libyan resistance movement
• Italian Libya
• List of Islamic films
• The Message

• Lion of the Desert at IMDb
• Lion of the Desert at Rotten Tomatoes