El Alamein - La linea del fuoco

Here in the US, we mostly get the Hollywood view of World War II: a glorified, heroic image. That makes it all the more interesting when we get the view from another country. A view that we rarely get is the Italian one. That's exactly what we have in "El Alamein - La linea del fuoco" ("The Line of Fire" in English).

Basically, the gist of the movie is that war is hell. The focus is a platoon in 1942 Egypt. Ordered by Mussolini to fight heroically for their country - and die heroically, if they must - these men soon find out that there's no glory in this endeavor. Not only do they experience all sorts of hell, but they realize that - in the words of one cadet, the dead didn't die heroically, they're just dead.

"The Thin Red Line" presented itself as the counterbalance to "Saving Private Ryan". The latter drew controversy for making heroes out of its protagonists. The former turned out to be three hours of nothing (as have all of Terrence Malick's movies during the past thirty years). Enzo Monteleone's movie is the proper counterbalance. Definitely check it out (you might have to find a neighborhood video rental place, since I don't know if it's available on streaming).

a very crude, beautiful, rarely near-truth war movie, rhetoricless. it reflects the story of italian war drama, fought against allied extrapowered forces. the italian armed support of that campain is usually undervaluated by historian and worldwide literature to favour of little contribution given by rommel's africakorp. I think they have right to obtain a more correct history-revision to give truth to the truth. the movie soundtrack is very exotic and fashinating, so you can feel the right atmosphere of desert land. a particular appreciation for the use of italian realistic vintages motorcycles, trucks, guns and a beautiful FIAT 508C militarizzata (command-car)in the right camouflage. the movie has given a simple, real chronicle of the time. enjoy yourself-bye

The Italian point of view is sufficiently rare about WW2 to be noticed. You had to come back to the late sixties and early seventies, in the italian film industry of course - not French nor German - to find such a scheme. EL ALAMEIN directed by Gioirgio Ferroni, starring Frederick Stafford was the best example. But more recently, I don't remember any other film. Maybe there were Italian films in the fifties and sixties, in black and white, directed by the likes of Dino Risi or any other great director, in a comic and tragic way, thru absurd situations, to describe the poverty row of the Italian Army during WW2. I am sure there were movies like this one, but treated differently. I am not a specialist of this kind of Italian films from the sixties, sorry folks. To summarize, this feature from 2002 is definitely worth watching for whom wishes to know how war was for the poor Italian army. An underrated army where lack of courage from the simple soldiers was certainly not the main cause. But instead of those who commanded them. Good acting and waesome directing, so accurate and didactic too. I think that was the purpose.

No heroism. No victory in the end. Only the uneasy feeling of the omnipresent heat, the lack of anything else required for whatever war you're fighting and a growing feeling of despair. Yet the story touched me because it was brought in a way that made it quite believable. The optimistic student who goes to war in the belief that the Italian army will be in Caïro in no time at all, because he believed the public opinion and the promises of Il Duce back home like everybody else did. I must hereby add, that that feeling of believing the story was very much fed by the fact that in my opinion the director and his camera crew knew exactly what they were doing and I also would like to give a big compliment to the casting people. Maybe over the years I have seen better war movies, but not many and certainly not from Italy.

Spectacular battles and noisy wartime action by Italian craftsman director Enzo Monteleone giving credibility enough to his story. June 1942, as general Erwin Rommel swept toward the Nile , battling General Montgomery's troops , but the fall of Egypt and the capture of the Suez canal seems inevitable . Italian and German advance units raced toward Alejandria . Mussolini had given explicit orders : The Italians must arrive first ! . In this one , the Italians and Germans, united in a difficult Alliance , fight the British in the North Afican desert . This is a breathtaking flick in which desert war is seen through the eyes of a simple Italian soldier , Serra (Paolo Briguglia) , an university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to battle in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Along with Soldier Serra , appearing other protagonists such as Serg. Rizzo (Pierfrancesco Favino), Sold. Spagna (Luciano Scarpa) and lieutenat Fiore (Emilio Solfrizzi). Meantime , Rommel and the Axis forces are bogged down ; it's October, the British prepare an offensive. At first, boredom, starvation, heat, hunger, and thirst bedevil the Italians ; things go wrong when the Brits attack, and there's no luck , bravery or heroism in death. Eventually, it's retreat in confusion and mayhem , all of them take a last walk toward Italian headquarter . Montgomery's Iron Back 8th Army ... Rommel's Crack Africa Korps ... they met head on and tore the earth apart !'

This movie gets lots of action , intense drama , impressive battles , crossfire , gunplay and explosion . A mostly unknown Italian cast of fine actors give decent interpretations . Here the Italians are the good guys and the British are the bad guys . While the battle itself is abridged and perhaps over-simplified to focus on the Italian division, that's perhaps best for the sake of narrative, character development, and making the emotional impact as strong as possible. It displays several extras and tanks , in fact , the production received help from Morocco Ministry of defense , beng shot on location in Morocco and Lacio , Rome , Italy . It displays colorful and evocative cinematography by Daniele Nanuzzi , son of prestigious cameraman Armando Nanuzzi . The motion picture was well and professionally directed by Enzo Monteleone.

The picture is based on the real battles , the true events is as follows : Alamein in WWII are two decisive battles in the western desert , north Egypt , in 1942 resulting in British victory over Axis forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel : 1- 27 July 1942 the British 8th Army under General Sir Claude Auchinleck held off the German and Italian forces . Neither side can be said to have won , but the British had the strategic advantage of short supply lines and so could reinforce faster than Germans . 23 Oct-4 Nov 1942 General Bernard Montgomery launched a diversionary British attack in the south , aiming to draw Axis forces into the area so that the main attack in the north could cut two corridors through the extensive minefields , enabling British armoured divisions to pass through and exploit the gaps . Progress was slow however and Montgomery decided to change tactics to fight what he called a 'crumbling battle' constantly switching the main emphasis to chip away at Rommel's front line and keep him guessing. Australian Division attacked along the coastal road , drawing the Axis forces toward them . Montgomery promptly launched a fresh attack further south, forcing the German armour to react in what became a major tank battle . By 3 Nov Rommel had only 30 serviceable tanks in action and on the next day began organizing his withdrawal. He was able to disengage and escape as the British were hampered by heavy rain and shortage fuel .