''The Desert of the Tartars'' ( it, Il deserto dei Tartari) is a 1976 Italian film by director

Valerio Zurlini Valerio Zurlini (19 March 1926 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter. Biography During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlin ...

with an international cast including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Philippe Noiret,

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (La Coruña (Spain), 20 September 1917 – Madrid (Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, i ...

, and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The cast also included veteran Iranian film actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz. Based on Dino Buzzati's novel '' The Tartar Steppe'' and set in about 1900, it tells the story of a young officer in an unnamed army who is sent to an ancient fortress that guards the desert frontier with the Tartars. Filmed in

Arg-e Bam The Arg-e Bam ( fa, ارگ بم), located in the city of Bam, Kerman Province of southeastern Iran, is the largest adobe building in the world. The entire building was a large fortress containing the citadel, but because the citadel dominates ...

, Iran and released on 29 October 1976 in Italy, it was later shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...

. The film's striking visual style, noted for its scenery, lighting, and cinematography, was influenced by the work of Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico.Rolando Caputo. Literary cineastes: the Italian novel and the cinema. In:

Peter E. Bondanella __NOTOC__ Peter Bondanella (1943–2017) was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Italian, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies at Indiana University, United States. Selected publications *''Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism''. Ed. by P. Bon ...

& Andrea Ciccarelli (eds.).
The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel
'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. P. 182-196. The score was by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

Plot

The first posting of the young lieutenant Drogo is to a remote medieval castle on the frontier of the empire, facing the empty desert of the ferocious Tartars. In this lonely outpost, though no enemy appears, the garrison solemnly goes through all the rituals of military life. Isolation and stress erode them mentally and physically, leading to erratic behaviour and illness. The officers bicker continually and a platoon of soldiers mutinies when one of them is shot for alleged desertion. The commanding officer rides into the desert alone and shoots himself. In the end Drogo too falls ill and, put into a carriage to take him back to civilization, collapses dead.

Cast

* Jacques Perrin: Lt. Drogo * Vittorio Gassman: Col. Filimore *

Giuliano Gemma Giuliano Gemma (2 September 1938 – 1 October 2013) was an Italian actor. He is best known internationally for his work in Spaghetti Westerns, particularly for his performances as the title character in Duccio Tessari's ''A Pistol for Ringo'' (1 ...

: Maj. Matis * Helmut Griem: Lt. Simeon * Philippe Noiret: the General *

: Lt. Col. Nathanson * Laurent Terzieff: Lt. von Hamerling * Jean-Louis Trintignant: Surgeon Maj. Rovine * Max von Sydow: Cpt. Ortiz * Giuseppe Pambieri: Lt. Rathenau * Francisco Rabal: Sgt. Maj. Tronk * Lilla Brignone: Drogo's mother

Awards

Won

David di Donatello Awards The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...

1977: **David Award - Best Director:

**David Award - Best Film **Special David Award - Best Actor:

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italian ...

1977: **Silver Ribbon Award - Best Director:

Nominated

1977: **Silver Ribbon Award - Best Supporting Actor:

References

External links

*
Notes on Cinematograph
*Federica Capoferri (1998)
I Tartari alle spalle. Dal romanzo di Dino Buzzati al film di Valerio Zurlini
'' Italica'' 75 (2), 226-241. {{DEFAULTSORT:Desert of the Tartars, The 1976 films 1970s war drama films Italian war drama films 1970s Italian-language films Films based on Italian novels Films based on works by Dino Buzzati Films set in the 19th century Films shot in Iran Films directed by Valerio Zurlini Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films set in deserts Films set in fortresses 1976 drama films 1970s Italian films