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Lion of the Desert (1980)
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Talk about a powerful film: Lion of the Desert.
Before there was the North Africa Campaign that made Erwin Rommel famous, the Italian troops tried to colonize Libya, but
somewhere in the middle of the desert, there was a twenty-year resistance that's successfully led by a Bedouin
named Omar Mukhtar whose nickname was "The Lion of the Desert." Thanks to General Rodolfo Graziani's strategies, he was
finally conquered and then hanged in 1931 at the age of 73. After killing nearly 100,000 Bedouins in concentration camps, Italy
relinquished control over Libya in 1947 through a peace treaty.
The producer of Halloween, Moustapha Akkad, had one goal in mind when he set out to direct an epic for
Lion of the Desert which involved thousands of extras, armored vehicles, and horses: present the events as they
happened with a high level of realism. It was all accomplished right in the middle of the Libyan desert.
Anthony Quinn is every bit spectacular as Omar Mukhtar and almost looks like him. It may be the greatest role of his career,
and he should've been Oscar-nominated. Yes, his presence in the desert reminds me too much of
Lawrence of Arabia, but this is a different movie and he's perfect for it.
There are also several more outstanding performances coming from Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger who's somewhat guilty of
overacting, and Raf Vallone. The greatest and most poignant moment is when Raf Vallone as Diodiece understood the gravity of
the situation after Omar Mukhtari was captured and treated like a common prisoner by the Italians when in fact it was a great
warrior they had in their possession. That's when Lion of the Desert transformed itself from a pretty good movie to an
outstanding motion picture.
All in all, Lion of the Desert may have lost $34 million, but it remains an important motion picture that's hopefully
seen by many to learn something about world history.