Uomini contro
Many Wars Ago | Bataillon der Verlorenen
© Cinémathèque Suisse
Uomini contro | Many Wars Ago | Bataillon der Verlorenen by Francesco Rosi
ITA 1969, Berlinale Special
© Cinémathèque Suisse
Director Francesco Rosi, who died in January this year, was one of the most important proponents of post-war European cinema. The Berlinale is honouring him by screening his anti-war film Uomini Contro, which recounts an episode from the First World War.
An Italian general attempts to recapture the military position of a small mountain which has been lost to the Austrians. Or preferably, to let other people do the recapturing. 'The soldiers are the ones who suffer, on either side. They are the victims. But, says Rosi, the desire to stop being a victim is not enough to thwart or end the war or to change the circumstances so that there can be no more wars. According to one of the officers, who unfortunately falls in combat, what is required is a moment when one can say no. (...) Rosi's MANY WARS AGO is unmistakably a revolutionary film: a film which is therefore undeniably of the political left.' (Martin Schlappner, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 13.11.1971).
An Italian general attempts to recapture the military position of a small mountain which has been lost to the Austrians. Or preferably, to let other people do the recapturing. 'The soldiers are the ones who suffer, on either side. They are the victims. But, says Rosi, the desire to stop being a victim is not enough to thwart or end the war or to change the circumstances so that there can be no more wars. According to one of the officers, who unfortunately falls in combat, what is required is a moment when one can say no. (...) Rosi's MANY WARS AGO is unmistakably a revolutionary film: a film which is therefore undeniably of the political left.' (Martin Schlappner, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 13.11.1971).