The Roses of the Desert (2006)
"Le rose del deserto" (original title)

A sanitary battalion of Italian Army is sent to Sorman oasis in Lybia during the Africa campaign in 1940. Soon an Italian missionary, living nearby, succeed to transform the occupation by ... See full summary »

Director:

Mario Monicelli

Writers:

Alessandro Bencivenni, Suso Cecchi D'Amico,

Stars:

Michele Placido, Giorgio Pasotti, Alessandro Haber

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Michele Placido	...	Frate Simeone
Giorgio Pasotti	...	Ten. Marcello Salvi
Alessandro Haber	...	Maggiore Stefano Strucchi
Fulvio Falzarano	...	Sgt. Barzottin
Moran Atias	...	Aisha
Claudio Bigagli	...	Un soldato toscano
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Danilo De Summa	...	Troop soldier
Roman Jankovic
Tatti Sanguineti

Storyline

A sanitary battalion of Italian Army is sent to Sorman oasis in Lybia during the Africa campaign in 1940. Soon an Italian missionary, living nearby, succeed to transform the occupation by Italian Army in a kind of humanitarian mission. In fact all the battalion is involved to help the local population. The war anyway goes on with no regards to human feelings. The "glorious" Fascist campaign is going to became a fast retreat.

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Plot Keywords:

missionary | 1940s | friendship | doctor | friar | 

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1 December 2006 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Roses of the Desert

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

€6,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Luna Rossa Cinematografica, Mikado Film, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Not as bad as it could seem

Although to an unprepared viewer this could seem a cheap movie, with weird acting and poor script, I think that reading it trying to get in the director's mind, with his intention clear, it deserves more respect, and at least 7 out of 10 stars.

Sure, the acting could be defined unrealistic, sometimes almost in bad taste, as some directing choices, like accelerating the appearance on screen of some characters but they also depict very well a kind of spirit of fascist Italy, the so called "Italietta", in which every Italian (officially) was proud to export his democracy and way of life and the cult of the Duce, not realizing (always, officially) that the lack of means and ideologies made him only ridiculous. This, obviously, refers also to the foreign policy of the U.S. nowadays, but i think the movie is best seen not thinking about modern politics, as it is already a nice, light, but yet profound picture of Italy seventy years ago.