''The Ravine'' ( it, La cattura) is a 1969 Italian-Yugoslav-American

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Paolo Cavara Paolo Cavara (4 July 1926 – 7 August 1982) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He is best known for collaborating with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi on the 1962 mondo film ''Mondo Cane'', and for directing the ficti ...

and starring

David McCallum David Keith McCallum Jr. (born 19 September 1933) is a Scottish actor and musician. He first gained recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E''. In recent years, McCallum ...

Nicoletta Machiavelli Nicoletta Machiavelli (1 August 1944 – 15 November 2015) was an Italian film actress, also known as Nicoletta Rangoni Machiavelli and Nicoletta Macchiavelli. Life and career The daughter of a Florentine father and of an American mother, Mach ...

and John Crawford.

Plot

The story takes place in winter, during World War II, at an isolated, snowed-in area. This area is occupied by Germany but contested by partisans who have Russian backing. One of the local partisans is Anja Kovach (Nicoletta Machiavelli). Her entire family was executed in retaliation for the death of a single German. She survived and, eventually, joined the partisans. She has become renowned as a sniper. She has killed almost half the local German garrison. The German troops live in fear of her. Sergeant Stephen Holmann (David McCallum) is an expert sniper in the German army. Before the war, he worked as a teacher. He attended the 1936 Olympics, an expert in marksmanship and a hunter. He gets reassigned from North Africa, and parachuted into the area, for a special assignment: to capture Anja. He must not kill her, lest she become a martyr. For several days, Stephen and Anja stalk each other through snow and woods. Eventually, Stephen wins: he manages to capture Anja, whilst she is occupied with signalling a Russian supply plane. Simultaneously, a fierce battle erupts between Germans and partisans. The battle moves away, leaving Stephen and Anja alone, without supplies, and surrounded by dead bodies. Stephen, with Anja his captive, is forced to find shelter and food, in hopes that the German forces will prevail and return. As days pass, Stephen and Anja's relationship evolves from adversarial to cooperative. They become lovers. Subsequently, the battle returns to the area. Amidst flying bullets, Stephen returns Anja's rifle to her. They go in opposite directions but a German soldier spots Anja and kills her. Stephen sees this, and kills the soldier. A Russian soldier sees Stephen heading toward Anja and assumes he has shot her, and in retaliation, kills Stephen.

Cast

as Sergeant Stephen Holmann *

as Anja Kovach * John Crawford as Captain Keller *

Lars Bloch Lars Bloch (6 August 1938 – 27 March 2022), was a Danish-Italian actor and producer, sometimes credited as ''Lars Block'' or ''Carlos Ewing''. Born in Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of ...

as Lt. Alexei Soloviev *

Demeter Bitenc Demeter Bitenc (21 July 1922 – 22 April 2018) was a Slovenian film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films and television shows from 1953 to 2018. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Selected filmography * ''Sinji galeb'' (1953) * ''Pu ...

as Lt. Eisgruber * Lewis W. Bushnell as Corporal Busch * Tana Mascarelli as First Old Woman * Ivona Petri as Second Old woman *

Branko Špoljar Branko Špoljar (5 January 1914 - 27 October 1985) was a Yugoslav actor. He appeared in more than thirty films from 1944 to 1982. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spoljar, Branko 1914 births 1985 deaths Yugoslav ...

as Thin Soldier *

Mirko Boman Mirko Boman (11 December 1926 – 30 August 2013) was a Croatian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1959 to 2002. Selected filmography References External links * 1926 births 2013 deaths Male actors from Zagreb C ...

as Tall Soldier * Rikard Brzeska as Old Soldier

References

External links

*
''The Ravine''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film ...

1960s war drama films Films directed by Paolo Cavara Films scored by Riz Ortolani Italian multilingual films English-language Italian films Italian war drama films 1960s multilingual films War films set in Partisan Yugoslavia Films about anti-fascism American multilingual films American World War II films Italian World War II films Films about snipers 1960s American films 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Italy-film-stub