''Sette baschi rossi'' also known as ''The Red Berets'', ''Seven Red Berets'' and ''Congo Hell'' is a 1969 Italian/West German co-production, filmed in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, about a fictional group of

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. The film was produced and directed by screenwriter

Mario Siciliano Mario Siciliano (1925–1987) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. In 1962 he founded Metheus Film.pp. 228-229 Curti, Roberto ''Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980'' McFarland, 22 Oct 2013 He directed more than twenty film ...

in his debut as a director. It was based on the novel ''Rebellion'' by

Piero Regnoli Piero Regnoli (1921–2001) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. Career Born in 1921, Regnoli worked in the film industry between 1953 and 1991 where he wrote over 110 screenplays and directed 11 films. Regnoli's work ranged fr ...

, under his pen name Dean Craig.

Plot

Set during the

Simba rebellion The Simba rebellion, also known as the Orientale revolt, was a regional uprising which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1963 and 1965 in the wider context of the Congo Crisis and the Cold War. The rebellion, located in t ...

, during the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...

, the film begins with a quote from

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, the spearing executions of a group of captured mercenaries, and the

pack rape Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

of a French female journalist. At Mercenary Central an angry Colonel Kimber rebukes the only survivor of the incident, German Captain De Brand. De Brand has left important documents in the Simba village that contains information on the activities and employers of the mercenaries. The documents must be retrieved within four days. De Brand says he can recover the papers and rescue the captured journalist with a small patrol. The Colonel agrees, but informs De Brand that his record of performance clearly shows he is incapable of leadership, and appoints African-American Captain Lauderwood to lead the patrol. Kimber adds three men to the patrol: a German Field Commander, a black African named Martinez and an Irishman named O'Fearn. As the patrol is unfamiliar with a swamp and desert they have to cross, Lauderwood recruits Carrès, a French gunrunner, for the fee of $15,000. Carrès is familiar with the area as he has sold weapons to the Simbas. Carrès became a weapons salesman after witnessing the torture of his wife who was burned and beaten to death in front of him. He became further alienated when the French government did not want to antagonise the local situation by seeking their prosecution. Lauderwood also takes along Wooder, a female mercenary doctor.

Cast

Note: the pairings of actor-to-role at IMDB and BFI are not in complete agreement

Production trivia

*Marturano also acted as the film's

armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons systems, wi ...

and stunt director. *Several of the action

set piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...

s of the film were reused in Siciliano's 1978 '' Scorticateli vivi'' (''Skin 'em Alive''). *Like the 1968 film ''

Dark of the Sun ''Dark of the Sun'' (also known as ''The Mercenaries'' in the UK) is a 1968 British adventure war film starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown, and Peter Carsten. The film, which was directed by Jack Cardiff, is based on Wilbur Smith's 19 ...

'', also about mercenaries fighting in the

, ''The Seven Red Berets'' features a train sequence.

Notes

External links

* 1969 films 1960s action war films Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo West German films Films set in Africa Films based on Italian novels Films about mercenaries Rail transport films Macaroni Combat films 1969 directorial debut films Films set on trains 1960s Italian films {{war-film-stub