"The Desert of the Tartars": Valerio Zurlini's Epic Nightmare
6/30/03 Screen adaptation of Dino Buzzati's novel, shot in Iran's Bam CitadelBy Darius Kadivar
darius_kadivar_65@hotmail.com
"If I were the director - he said to me - for the soldiers
of the Fortezza Bastiani I would not choose a single uniform, but all the most
beautiful uniforms in history, as long as they were slightly worn, rather like
old flags. I am thinking of the uniforms of the dragoons, the hussars, he
musketeers encountered in the pages of Dumas, the Bengal Lancers, like the ones
used in a film with Gary Cooper...Of course, together with the uniforms, also
different helmets, caps and badges. In other words, a regiment that has never
existed but which is universal". The question I asked Buzzati was: "Which
uniform would you have lieutenant Drogo wear?". The answer came without
hesitation, "I should dress him up like a Hapsburg officer because Drogo's life
is pointless, but full of pride".
- Dino Buzzati in an interview
with Italian journalist Giulio Nascimbeni on the screen adaptation of his novel
(courtesy) trad.Interpres-Giussano)
"Il Deserto dei Tartari"
aka "The Desert of the Tartars" ( See Authors Note)
first appeared in the late spring of 1940, while Buzzati was in East Africa as a
special correspondent of the "Corriere della Sera". Italy's entering the
war was by then simply a question of days. The book would have come out a couple
of months earlier if it had not been for a last-minute problem: the Fascist
regime censors had forbidden the use of the third person singular while the
dialogue of the "Steppe" made abundant use of it. One of Buzzati's dearest
friends, professor Arturo Brambilla, made all the changes from third singular to
second plural, but this naturally caused a certain amount of delay. Buzzati's
novel set in a no mans land desert could also be interpreted as a hidden
criticism of Benito Mussolini military campaign in Ethiopia back in 1935 which
led the négus Emperor Haïlé Sélassié to plead in vain for his countries
independence in front of the League of Nations.
Buzatti's novel has
become a classic of surreal literature since its first publication. In some ways
Buzzati can be compared to an Italian "Orwell" sharing with the famed British
author of "1984" a nightmarish and dark vision of humanity and its shortcomings.
In 1976 Italian Valerio Zurlini decides to adapt Buzzatis novel to the
screen. The film was to become a classic involving some of the Times greatest
European Stars, who were to shoot in this Kafkaesque story in one of the most
enigmatic looking Desert Citadels in the World: That of the Savafid Fort of Bam
in Iran. 
Valerio
Zurlini sudden death was announced in the international news, this picture was
taken by Iranian photograph Dariush Radpour during the shoot of the "Le
Desert des Tartares" aka "The Desert of the Tartars". in Bam Iran. Top Left and
Below actors Jean Louis Tringtinian and Vittorio Gassman, Right Top and Below
Giuliano Gemma, and Phillipe Noiret were part of the International
Cast.
In the mid seventies French actor and
producer Jacques Perrin who had bought the screen rights to the an Italian novel
by Dino Buzzati "The Desert of the Tartars" decides to make the film adaptation
with the help of Iranian Producer Bahman
Farman Ara help and financial backing.
Synopsis:
Valerio Zurlini's melancholy final film (1976) is a psychological
drama about a pan-European group of officers, stationed at an outpost along the
eastern edge of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who cling to the rigid military
values of a crumbling order as they await an enemy that may not even exist.
Using an austere, almost abstract mise-en-scene (distinguished by Luciano
Tovoli's stark cinematography), Zurlini parallels the labyrinth of the soldiers'
sandstone fortress with their interior state, an unbearable ennui that ends only
in self destruction or death.
A film over two hours long set
in a remote desert fort, with an all male cast and no action, may seem a
daunting prospect, however "The desert of the Tartars" Tis a strikingly
memorable experience.
Italian author Dino Buzzati
famous tale had tempted many filmmakers such as Michelangelo Antonioni , David
Lean, Luchino Visconti , Pierre Schoendorffer , or Jean-Louis Bertucelli.
Finally, thanks to the perseverance of Jacques Perrin who held the rights of the
novel the film adaptation was made possible. The direction was thus offered to
his mentor Valerio
Zurlini ( See Below ) who had
already directed him in the 1960's . 
Italian author Dino
Buzzati (1906-1970) and his bestseller "Le Desert des Tartares" aka "The Tartar Steppe"
The characters are full of
suppressed emotion and inner turmoil, the strange surrealistic fort a metaphor
of their spiritual imprisonment, and the huge expanse of surrounding desert a
tangent reminder, day by day, and year by year, of their fears and lost
aspirations. Time passes imperceptibly, and a dashing young lieutenant, played
by Jacques Perrin and surrounded by a stellar male cast (See Authors notes) ,
ages and weakens as the desert and the constraints of life in the fort strips
away his physical strength and inner resolve. He yearns to free himself of the
debilitating fort's influence, but finds himself transfixed by the mystical
challenges of the landscape, and the perceived danger from the unseen enemy
beyond.
Italian DVD of the
1976 film With Bam Fortress on the cover and actors Fernando Rey (Nathanson),
Max Von Sydow (Hortiz), Jean Louis Trintignan (The Doctor), Vittorio Gassman
(Filimore with hat) and Laurent Terzieff (Amerling) in Valerio Zurlini' film
Left Two views of The Safavid dynasty Mud
citadel, Bam which served as the setting for the 1977 Film, Right
Horitz (Max Von Syndow) is one of the
protagonists of this Kafkaesque tale. Center Italian Painting by Giorgio de
Chirico: "La Torre Rossa" which inspired Zurlini to set the film in
Bam.
Those who hope to find a spectacular Epic
movie filled with action will be disappointed, but it will be certainly more
appreciated by anyone interested in a psychological confrontation between actors
who at the time had reached the summit of their art. The fable's plausible and
Kafkaesque symbolism and situations are strong and odd against the mute question
of death framing the entire film. In the barren fort of the hypothetical empire,
above a ruined ancient city ravaged by marauders, the landscape of mind that
Drogo (Jaques Perrin ) finds in this society of men is the only comfort and
diversion to be had. Max von Sydow's
Hortiz, who initially seems slightly insane, carries the lengthy film through
its more pensive or absurd moments with a strange, convincing performance.
Philippe Noiret's august "General" is a quiet master of the powerful
forces at work through their travails, drills and inflammations. Set against
Drogo's gradual aging process are brief moments that mark out new dimensions to
his character, through a few well-turned words or a quiet expression.
Notwithstanding a length that makes the end a long time in coming, the large
star cast gives unfailingly good performances and the quality of the filmmaking
is excellent using an Exemplary color widescreen photography and aided
immeasurably by the haunting musical themes written by Ennio Moriconne.
The
music score was composed by the gifted film music
composer Ennio Morricone
Also Two Iranian actors were
cast in this film :Shaban Golchin
Honaz as "Soldier Lazar" and writer actor Kamran Nozad
("Malakout" (1976) , "Ferestadeh" (1982)) is cast as "Captain
Sern". The Film won the "David Di Donatello Award" for "Best
Film" and "Best Director" on the 22nd edition (1976-1977) of the
Italian Film Festival.
This film was in fact made in 1976, with
an exceptional cast of actors including Jacques Perrin, in the leading role,
Vittorio Gassman, Giuliano Gemma, Philippe Noiret, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Max
von Sydow, Laurent Terzieff, Fernando Rey and Francisco Rabal.
It should be noted that it is the Italian Painting by Giorgio de
Chirico: "La Torre Rossa" that convinced the Italian filmmaker and
production to shoot the film on location at the famous Fortress of Bam. Located
in southeastern Iran, 200 kilometers south of Kerman, the ruined city of
Arg-e-Bam is made entirely of mud bricks, clay, straw and trunks of palm trees.
The city was originally founded during the Sassanian period (224-637 AD) and
while some of the surviving structures date from before the 12th century, most
of what remains was built during the Safavid period (1502-1722). The citadel of
Bam which looks like a Gigantic Sand Castle has become one of the major
attractions In Iran for film buffs and for tourists often surprised to find the
original settings of the 1976 film on the touring agendas proposed by the
Iranian Tourist industry.
The "Desert of the Tartars" is a strange
movie, that takes full advantage of the lunar scenery of the Bam Citadel and the
Iranian Desert. It is also reminiscent of an era when International Co-Producers
saw potential in filming in Iran. The country offered many exotic landscapes for
the Western eye and a number of films were to be filmed on location such as an
Aghata Christie film "The Ten Little Indians" shot at the Shah Abbas
Hotel of Isphahan and in Persepolis. Unfortunately the Revolution of 1979 put an
abrupt end to other major European or American co-productions.
Author's note:
When most people think
about classic Italian cinema, it is directors like Federico Fellini and Roberto
Rossellini who come to mind. However Valerio Zurlini's name can be added to that
list. Critics often refer to Zurlini, who died in 1982, as the "overlooked"
Italian director, and the Desert Epic can be rated as a major part of his
filmography. He was also noticed for his 1972 film "The Professor" with Alain Delon
in the title role.
The English Title of the
Novel is also "The
Tartar Steppe"