Review of Lion of the Desert

I was almost out of high school and a big history and war movie buff when I saw the marque poster in a nearby cinema. I caught it on a matinée and was captivated throughout the whole movie. It's definitely an epic, with wide shots of the deserts, immense deployment of extras, intense battle scenes, all whirling around the main character, Omar Mukhtar, played quite well by Anthony Quinn. While there is the sense of futility in the struggle between the old world of the desert and the new order of the industrial 'modern' world, I found a feeling of half-victory, where the battle was lost(despite some tough fighting), but the war was in no way won by the Italians. Overall a great picture. One of the most memorable scenes for me: after an Italian column is smashed by Mukhtar's men, one of his men shoots an Italian who surrendered. Quinn grabs the weapon, and insists they do not shoot those who surrender. The shooter retorts that the Italians do it to their people, and Quinn asks 'and you will allow them to be your teachers?'. That scene always stayed with me...