El desierto de los tártaros

.In France,when the movie was released,a lot of critics snubbed it,putting disparagement on it,because it could not hold a candle to Buzzati's masterpiece.But as Jean Cocteau said,critics judge art works,and they don't know they are judged by them!

Valerio Zurlini and his producer-star Jacques Perrin were faithful to the novel.They succeeded in bringing to the screen one of the most abstract ,metaphoric,and also depressing literature masterworks of the last century.Perrin is well cast as Drogo ,the young officer waiting,waiting,for something that never comes:the tartars attack symbolizes everything you long for,and when it seems it's happening,it's too late.Once proud and brave and full of great expectations,the hero becomes humble and bent,under the burden of the years passing by,inexorably,leaving him a human wreck.

In this desolate landscape,in this infinite space,man is not numbered like every grain of sand.The grandiose shots of the desert,the mountains and this strange abandoned city,which seems to contain some mysteries of ancient times,all this contrasts terribly with man's fate:see his ridiculous ceremonies,his military iron discipline,his derisory and laughable "career",he who's only a breath in Time,only a little dandruff in an universe that eludes him.

Zurlini's movie is not totally satisfying when recreating the erosion of time.In the book,it was unbearable.But he made a movie any director should be proud of,a movie that must be seen because the task was hard,and the results are sometimes sumptuous.

Perrin portrays Drogo with a great conviction.As a producer,he had serious difficulties,he had to fight to convince ,and the end of the movie -which was intended to be ,like in the book,in an inn- could not be filmed because the actor/producer was running out of money.Give

this movie a chance ,the people who made it did their share!

The closest comparison for this film is "2001: A Space Odyssey". whether you were awed or bored by Kubrick's masterpiece, you will probably react the same to this one. Yes, it is slow-moving, and little happens, but I was on the edge of my seat throughout. A breathtaking masterpiece.

This film features one of the most extraordinary locations I've ever seen on film,apparently shot in Southeast Iran, these giant, snow-capped mountains loom in the distance while closer, a desert fortress rises above what appears to be the remains of abandoned, ancient ruins. In this setting, an outpost on the edge of the desert of the Tartars, overseeing rock, sand, and a perpetual mist, the extraordinary external visual world stands for the internalized world that evolves over time, soldiers at the outpost suffer from mysterious ailments that scientists can not name or cure, a metaphor for fear of the unknown, which eats at the inner core of these soldiers who live in a world abandoned by time. The men train for the inevitable attack that lurks just beyond their eyesight or understanding, there is a sort of desert fever that kicks in, so it is not really known if there is an army out there or if it's all in their mind. The stunning,visual world has been created, once again, from the brilliant mind of Valerio Zurlini.

The film reminded me of two others, Tarkovsky's `Solaris,' where men are sent to outer space only to discover that the planet surface mysteriously interacts with each man's internal memories, also a recent Hungarian film by Peter Gothar called `The Outpost,' an absurdist, Kafkaesque journey that as one engineer gets promoted and travels farther and farther away into the outer reaches of the country, bribing nearly everyone she meets just to get there, leaving the comforts of anything remotely resembling normal, and instead discovers a peculiar outpost at the end of the world where the mind plays terrible tricks.

A clichê advice, but in this case this good movie could ruin the superb book, if watched before.

Yet, it deserves to be watched after reading the book, it's not a square transposition, it has it's own soul.

if you know the novel, the film could be a correct adaptation. if you do not know the book, the film could be boring, too slow, too long, only an experiment. in fact, the truth is at the middle. the film is more than an adaptation but exposure of the point of view of director about the isolation of man in contemporary society. the purpose is served by the great cast, the desolated landscapes, the expectation as way to survive, the construction of the dramatic end. it is translation of a deep feeling and the book of Buzatti seems be, in many scenes, the perfect tool. so, it is not fair to define it using the expectations. because something does it special. maybe, the reflection in yourself. or the long expectations. or the sensation to see a Kafka works.