Lion of the Desert (1981) on Netflix
PG19812h 53mBiographyDramaHistory
In 1929, after a decade of failure in Libya, Mussolini sends General Rodolfo Graziani to crush the rebellion. Omar Mukhtar, a teacher turned guerrilla leader, leads the resistance.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb8.2/1019,077 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes75%
Trailer
Plot summary
Benito Mussolini has spent ten years trying to put down the revolt in Italy's Libyan colony, and he now hands the campaign to General Rodolfo Graziani, a soldier he trusts to restore imperial glory in Africa. Graziani brings the Royal Italian Army's tanks and aircraft into the desert for the first time. Against him stands Omar Mukhtar, a teacher by profession who took up guerrilla warfare to defend his homeland, and the Bedouin fighters who follow him. The Italians kill prisoners of war, destroy crops and hold populations in camps behind barbed wire. Mukhtar's people suffer heavy losses to mechanized warfare but keep the Italians from complete victory.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Lion of the Desert (1981)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While shooting in the Libyan desert, the production team lived in fully equipped "living camps" complete with air conditioning, a restaurant, a library, billiards and Ping-Pong tables, a discotheque, a swimming pool and a movie theater.
