User Reviews

The film was made in 1942 in Mussolini's Italy during World War II, ostensibly as a propaganda movie. It deals with the fall of Bengasi (Italian spelling of Benghazi) to the British, and the later recapture of the Libyan city by the Italians (and Germans). The film won the Mussolini Prize at the Venice International Exhibition of Cinematographic Arts of 1942. Good acting and very good musical score. What is surprising is the anti-war undercurrent of the film. Nazi censors would have never certified such a movie for German audiences. Maimed soldiers, dead children, broken homes -- the high human cost for waging war is not kept from the audience (even the British are portrayed as fairly ordinary people!). Amedeo Nazzari is probably the only actor one might recognize, since he went on to have a distinguished career after the war, although here he seems to play his part without much conviction. The rest of the cast does well, and the film portrays a side of the war that is seldom seen outside Europe. Not for everyone, but certainly worth having a look if you're interested in the events of that era, even though it is propaganda.

It is such a pity that a true pioneer of film such as Augusto Genina should be virtually forgotten today. He excelled in so many genres from the sophistication of 'Prix de beauté' to the neo-realism of 'Cielo sulla palude'.

Here he is in 'Italian fascist mode' but still brings his qualities to bear.

The occupation of Benghazi in the Desert War by the British is viewed from the point of view of individual suffering, mainly through the eyes of four women, each of whom is perfectly cast.

Mária Tasnádi as Carla fails to find the courage to tell her wounded husband that their young son is dead whilst the Giuliana of Vivi Gioi cannot come to terms with the knowledge that the man who has proposed to her might be a collaborator. Laura Redi is Maria, a prostitute who hides a soldier and Amelia Bissi is an elderly mother who miraculously finds her son but whose husband is murdered by a bunch of loutish Australians who behave, ironically, like Black or Brownshirts!

The English soldiery are treated pretty lightly in this and the officers portrayed as teddibly civilised. One is intrigued as to where the makers of this found the upper crust voices for 'dubbing' purposes!

Amadeo Nazzari brings his charisma to bear in a pretty thankless role but the acting honours go to Fosco Giachetti, certainly no stranger to Genina's propoganda fare, whose performance as the maimed Capitano Berti combines both strength and sensitivity.

Genina has the services of Aldo Tonti behind the camera and Antonio Veretti again contributes a splendid score. No expense has been spared on the hordes of extras and a reconstruction of Benghazi at Cinecitta studios.

This film is one of great humanity and shows not just the physical damage of war in terms of lost limbs and sightless eyes but the devastating psychological toll. The best war films are, by definition, anti-war and this piece, despite its ostensibly propogandist nature, is no exception.