''Many Wars Ago'' ( it, Uomini contro, lit=Men Against) is a 1970

anti-war film Anti-war films may criticize armed conflicts in a general sense to illustrate that war is futile and a loss for all sides involved, while others focus on acts within a specific war, such as poison gas use or genocidal killing of civilians. There a ...

set on the Alpine Front of the First World War. Directed, produced, and co-written by Francesco Rosi, the film is based on Emilio Lussu's memoir ''Un anno sull'altipiano'' ("One year on the plateau"), recounting his experiences at the Battle of Asiago. The Italian-Yugoslavian co-production was filmed in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

and Zagreb, and stars Mark Frechette,

Gian Maria Volonté Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor, including roles in four Spaghetti Western films: Ramón Rojo in Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964) and El Indio in Leone's '' For a Few Dollars More'' ( ...

, and

Alain Cuny René Xavier Marie Alain Cuny (12 July 1908 – 16 May 1994) was a French actor of stage and screen. He was closely linked with the works of Paul Claudel and Antonin Artaud, and for his performances for the Théâtre national populaire and Od ...

. It premiered at the

31st Venice International Film Festival The 31st annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 19 August to 1 September 1970. There was no jury because from 1969 to 1979 the festival was not competitive. Official Selections * ''Wanda'' by Barbara Loden (United States) * '' ...

Plot

The film is set on the Alpine Front of World War I, between 1916 and 1917. The conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate. Bogged down in their trenches on a barren highland, the men of an Italian infantry division have been given one objective: retake a commanding height from the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

forces. Unfortunately, the tactical ingenuity of General Leone, the unpopular division commander, consists of supplementing frontal attacks against machine guns with medieval fighting schemes. His dispirited troops must be prodded with ever-harsher measures into storming the Austrian positions. As casualties mount, indignation spreads among the rank and file. In one attack, a beloved junior officer is killed during an attempted

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

, and subsequently every tenth man of his battalion is chosen to be executed by a firing squad of his comrades, in some bizarre kind of compensation for the killed officer. Disturbed by his superiors' decisions, the young Lieutenant Sassu is progressively led to question the purpose of war and reconsider where his real duties lie.

Cast

Production

''Many Wars Ago'' was one of three films that American hippie-turned-actor Mark Frechette appeared in. He had been cast by

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

in the lead role of ''Zabriskie Point'', who at the time was living in active member of Mel Lyman's commune. The film was a commercial failure, but brought 21-year old Frechette to Italian producers. Because he didn't speak Italian, he spoke his lines in English, and was redubbed by Giancarlo Giannini. He tithed his entire salary from the film to the commune, and died two years later after a failed armed robbery. The film was also

Daria Nicolodi Daria Nicolodi (19 June 1950 – 26 November 2020) was an Italian television and film actress and screenwriter. Early life and career Daria Nicolodi was born in Florence on 19 June 1950. Her father was a Florentine lawyer and her mother, Fu ...

's debut.

Filming

Principal photography took place in and around

(in modern-day Serbia) and Zagreb (in modern-day Croatia). The production was based at Belgrade's Centralni Filmski Studio Kosutnjak.

Reception

In a retrospective review, Dusty Somers wrote "''Many Wars Ago'' is a film where the fury of war is viscerally felt in scene after scene of pulsing movement and blasting sound. Rosi doesn’t shy away from launching a series of kinetic assaults on the senses, his close-up framing emphasizing chaos over any distinguishable moving parts." Rosi said of the reaction to the film:

I was denounced for insulting the army, but I was acquitted in the preliminary investigation. The film was boycotted, by the explicit admission of those who did it: it was removed from the cinemas where it passed with the excuse that threatening phone calls were arriving. It had the honor of being the subject of General iovanniDe Lorenzo's speeches, abundantly reproduced on Italian television, which at that time certainly had no qualms about advertising a film in this way.

The film was screened at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in honor of Francesco Rosi, who had died a few weeks before.

References

External links

* {{Francesco Rosi , state=expanded 1970 films 1970s war drama films Italian war drama films Yugoslav war drama films 1970s Italian-language films Anti-war films about World War I World War I films set on the Italian Front Films directed by Francesco Rosi Films set in Italy 1970 drama films Films shot in Belgrade Films shot in Croatia Films about mutinies 1970s Italian films