Directed by:
Ermanno OlmiScreenplay:
Ermanno OlmiComposer:
Paolo FresuCast:
Claudio Santamaria, Alessandro Sperduti, Francesco Formichetti, Andrea Di Maria, Camillo Grassi, Niccolò Senni, Domenico Benetti, Andrea Benetti (more)Plots(1)
In the beginning there is just silence and snow and the moonlight on the high plain. The peaceful scene is, however, deceptive: we are actually on the front-line in the Italian alps during the First World War. For the moment a ceasefire prevails; a soldier sings for his own unit, for the enemy and for himself. The men are sick, wounded and exhausted. They face the prospect of their own deaths more with resignation than fear. The sound of shots is drawing nearer once more. Orders are given which mean certain death. A comrade shoots himself before the enemy out there can kill him. Artillery fire forces the soldiers to retreat. The fallen are left behind, hastily buried in the deep snow. (Berlinale)
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SS - Schutzstaffel and the Second World War. SS - "Signore, sì!" and the First World War in the army of the state agreement, allegedly the democratic party of the conflict. Injustice and helplessness do not belong only to explicitly criminal armies like the SS, but to every other as well. The Italian "Yes, sir!" is beautiful proof of that. From a film perspective, it is most interesting to see how Olmi, in order to emphasize the message that the soldier's greatest enemy is not the enemy on the other side of the trench, but his own army, (or the army as such), does not let the Austrians appear on the screen at all. In addition, the inhumanity of the military machinery is manifested despite the fact that each of the characters, including the officers, are normal human beings (the problem of military hierarchy is personalized and depicted as the transgressions of specific individuals for ideological reasons, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries). Thanks to this, the viewer sees that it is precisely the army and war as such that can be blamed for the suffering of the people on the screen.
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Photo © 01 Distribution/Simone Falso
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