The Desert of the Tartars
Encyclopedia
The Desert of the Tartars is a 1976
award-winning film by Italian
director
Valerio Zurlini
with an international cast, including Jacques Perrin
, Vittorio Gassman
, Max von Sydow
, Francisco Rabal
, Helmut Griem
, Giuliano Gemma
, Philippe Noiret
, Fernando Rey
, and Jean-Louis Trintignant
. The cast also included Iranian film veteran actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz.
It is based on the Dino Buzzati
's novel The Tartar Steppe
. The film omits certain parts of the novel, especially those relating to the lives of Drogo's friends in his home town.
It was filmed in Arg-e Bam
, Iran
, and was released on 29 October 1976 in (Italy)
The film's visual style was influenced by the work of Italian painter Giorgio De Chirico
.
1976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
award-winning film by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Valerio Zurlini
Valerio Zurlini
Valerio Zurlini was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter.-Biography:During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party...
with an international cast, including Jacques Perrin
Jacques Perrin
Jacques Perrin is a French actor and filmmaker. He is occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Simonet was his father's name and Perrin his mother's.-Life and career:...
, Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI , popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor and director...
, Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
, Francisco Rabal
Francisco Rabal
Francisco Rabal , perhaps better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor born in Águilas, a small town in the province of Murcia, Spain....
, Helmut Griem
Helmut Griem
Helmut Griem was a German actor.Griem was primarily a German-speaking stage actor, appearing at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, the Burgtheater in Vienna, the Staatliches Schauspielbühnen in Berlin, in the Munich Kammerspiele, and finally in the...
, Giuliano Gemma
Giuliano Gemma
-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
, Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
, Fernando Rey
Fernando Rey
Fernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
, and Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant is a French actor who has enjoyed an international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Career:...
. The cast also included Iranian film veteran actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz.
It is based on the Dino Buzzati
Dino Buzzati
Dino Buzzati-Traverso was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for Corriere della Sera. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel Il deserto dei Tartari, translated into English as The Tartar Steppe.-Life:Buzzati was born at San Pellegrino,...
's novel The Tartar Steppe
The Tartar Steppe
The Tartar Steppe is a novel by Italian author Dino Buzzati, published in 1940.The novel tells the story of a young officer, Giovanni Drogo, and his life spent guarding the Bastiani Fortress, an old, unmaintained border fortress. The plot of the novel is Drogo's lifelong wait for a great war in...
. The film omits certain parts of the novel, especially those relating to the lives of Drogo's friends in his home town.
It was filmed in Arg-e Bam
Arg-é Bam
The Arg-é Bam was the largest adobe building in the world, located in Bam, a city in the Kermān Province of southeastern Iran. It is listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape". This enormous citadel on the Silk Road was built before 500 BC and remained in...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and was released on 29 October 1976 in (Italy)
The film's visual style was influenced by the work of Italian painter Giorgio De Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico was a pre-Surrealist and then Surrealist Italian painter born in Volos, Greece, to a Genovese mother and a Sicilian father. He founded the scuola metafisica art movement...
.
Synopsis
The film tells the story of a young officer, Giovanni Drogo (Jacques Perrin), and the time that he spent guarding the Bastiani Fortress, an old, unmaintained border fortress.Cast
- Vittorio GassmanVittorio GassmanVittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI , popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor and director...
... Filimore - Giuliano GemmaGiuliano Gemma-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
... Mattis - Helmut GriemHelmut GriemHelmut Griem was a German actor.Griem was primarily a German-speaking stage actor, appearing at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, the Burgtheater in Vienna, the Staatliches Schauspielbühnen in Berlin, in the Munich Kammerspiele, and finally in the...
... Lieutenant Simeon - Jacques PerrinJacques PerrinJacques Perrin is a French actor and filmmaker. He is occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Simonet was his father's name and Perrin his mother's.-Life and career:...
... Drogo - Fernando ReyFernando ReyFernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
... Nathanson - Francisco RabalFrancisco RabalFrancisco Rabal , perhaps better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor born in Águilas, a small town in the province of Murcia, Spain....
... Tronk - Max von SydowMax von SydowMax von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
... Hortiz
Won
- David di Donatello Awards 1977:
- David Award - Best Director: Valerio ZurliniValerio ZurliniValerio Zurlini was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter.-Biography:During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party...
- Dacid Award - Best Film
- Special David Award - Best Actor: Giuliano GemmaGiuliano Gemma-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
- David Award - Best Director: Valerio Zurlini
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1977:
- Silver Ribbon Award - Best Director: Valerio ZurliniValerio ZurliniValerio Zurlini was an Italian film director, stage director and screenwriter.-Biography:During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party...
- Silver Ribbon Award - Best Director: Valerio Zurlini
Nominated
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1977:
- Silver Ribbon Award - Best Supporting Actor: Giuliano GemmaGiuliano Gemma-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
- Silver Ribbon Award - Best Supporting Actor: Giuliano Gemma
External links
- Notes on Cinematograph
- Federica Capoferri (1998). I Tartari alle spalle. Dal romanzo di Dino Buzzati al film di Valerio Zurlini. Italica 75 (2), 226-241.