DESERTO DEI TARTARO

LE DESERT DES TARTARES (1976)

“In 1900, young Lieutenant Drogo, just graduating from the military academy,
is commissioned to the fortress of Bastiano on the eastern border of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire. The soldiers of this outpost, at the edge of an immense
desert, are charged to protect the Empire from an eventual attack of the
dreadful Tartars. But it is actually time which will turn out to be the greatest
threat to these men. In this never-ending wait for an enemy that never reveals
itself and whose existence becomes uncertain, this group of officers attempts to
hold on to the rigid values of a crumbling military order.

Le Désert des Tartares, a psychological drama released in 1976, is the last

film made by Valerio Zurlini. Through an austere and almost abstract stage
direction distinguished by the contributions of director of photography Luciano
Tovoli, the director draws a parallel between the maze of the sand fortress and
the soldiers’ states of mind.”1

When the
Restored
version
of Le
Désert
des
Tartares
was
presented
at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, Zurlini’s film had
become invisible.
LE DESERT DES TARTARES

The film is an adaptation of Dino Buzzati’s novel Il desert

dei Tartari (The Tartar Steppe) which, when published in
1940, received immediate critical recognition. It tells the
story of a military outpost at the extreme northern frontier
of the country that awaits a Tartar invasion that never
takes place, or does it? Most critics have argued that it is

1 Synopsis of the restored version presented in the publicity of the Cannes Film Festival in 2013.
a faithful adaptation of the novel, and so does Jacques
Perrin the producer/actor of the film2.

Buzzati’s was trained as a journalist. His first two novels

were classical realism. Later on, he wrote short-stories
which were more influenced by Symbolism, Surrealism,
Kafka and science fiction. Abusively, the novel has even
been compared to Camus.

Interestingly, he is quoted by Lionel Venturi, in his

introduction to a collection of Buzzati’s stories as saying :
“It seems to me, fantasy should be as close as possible to
journalism. The right word is not "banalizing", although in
fact a little of this is involved. Rather, I mean that the
effectiveness of a fantastic story will depend on its being
told in the most simple and practical terms.” 3

Zurlini’s adaptation did not receive the same kind of

reception as the novel, in part, because he was competing
with a new generation of Italian filmmakers: Visconti,
Antonioni, Fellini, Comencini, Ferreri, Pasolini…. and was
sort of forgotten and unfairly neglected. Furthermore,
beside the problem of a new generation of spectators, the
film’s subject matter and its “style” failed to attract much
critical attention. And it is only belatedly, following its
recent excellent restoration that it has been exhibited
widely
2 Interviewed at the Cannes film Festival.
3 My emphasis.
Buzzati’s novel is often characterized in somewhat
contradictory ways, from kafkaesque, a spellbinding place,
existential, to a meditation on the passing of time and the
waste of one’s life while waiting in vain for the opportunity
to distinguish oneself in battle. Aside from the fudging of
time and space, as we never really know how far Fort
Bastiani is from Drogo’s hometown or any other
agglomeration for that matter, Drogo is preoccupied
mostly by how long he would have to stay in this post
which he really doesn’t like and where he did not ask to be
assigned.

He has few friends to whom he can turn to for comfort in

his isolation and loneliness.. Perrin’s acting is very
restrained and makes him stand apart from the other
officers.

Since the novel was used as the basis for the script, a
close comparison between the novel and the film4 is not
really possible, almost by definition5. As soon as one no
longer deals with macro-events, there is either too little or
an excess of information as Christian Metz’s pointed out
some time ago; one has to rely on a semantic bridge to
link the two different matters of expression.6 A comparison
between the novel and a segmentation of the majors
4 I am not aware that the script was ever published.
5 see my article, “Metz’s Move,”

For a discussion of this issue, see “Metz’s move,”6

sequences of the film shows that Zurlini substituted a
different but consistent reference system to Buzzati’s
realistic representation of the story. It is tempting to argue
that such a change is to be expected from any kind of
adaptation from text, one which has been characterized
as faithful. Be it as it may, such doesn’t seem to have
been Zurlini’s intention. Changes of time, location, names
are to be expected, for multiples reasons.
In this instance, several of the characters’ names have
been changed without altering significantly the profile of
the character, although it seems to me the change from
Angustina to Von Hamerling is not as insignificant as one
might think. Like a number of European films made before
the war, Renoir ’s Grand Illusion, for ex., there is an
explicit conflict between officers who have an aristocratic
background and those who have come in through “the
small door,” as you say in French7. In Zurlini’s film, in spite
of the elegance of the officers and the strict adherence to
a protocol8 it is very clear that the colonel in charge of the
Fort and Von Hamerling are not from the same world as
commandant Matti, who at some point is humiliated in a
scene with the Colonel. Matis on the other hand resents
von Hamerling’s elegance and aloofness. Their sense of
discipline, values, dress, and even their military
sophistication is very much emphasized. That issue is not
mentioned in the novel.

7 They also often are portrayed as opportunists (arrivistes in French), often terribly smart.
8 The same social distinction existed also in the military branches these officers graduated
from.
This aspect of “style” and a certain sophistication does
characterize the officers at the Fort, and even t
assignment to this desolate, now unimportant military post,
is no longer a military distinction.
.
But it is precisely this old fashioned military order and
rigid discipline that gives distinction to those who have
spent their whole career there and contributes greatly to
the quaint rituals that regulate life at the Fort.

In any case Buzzati and Zurlini deal differently with Drogo;

and rather than a focusing function, on the wasted lives of
these officers, the latter adds a dimension to the
atmosphere of strangeness that haunts the Fort. Albeit,
very much following Buzzati idea of how to render the
“fantastic” :
"banalizing", although in fact a little of this is involved.
Rather, “I mean that the effectiveness of a fantastic story
will depend on its being told in the most simple and
practical terms.” Thus it could be argued that
cinematographic images might be ideal to represent this
type of story. A sort of degree zero of writing, to borrow
Barthes’s expression, especially since Tivoli/Zurlini avoid
using any kind of special effect.

Yet, in this instance, the literary text is far more detailed

than the film adaptation which, for one thing,
systematically effaces all the marks of enunciation of time
and space—deictics, to use Benvéniste’s terms— and
thus creates a timeless state which in fact in the original
version takes place over thirty years. This statement is
actually incorrect insofar as if, strictly speaking, there are
no deictics in film, it doesn’t mean that there is no
enunciative apparatus. It is true that there are no
“enunciative devices,” as described in Met’z last book,
L’Enonciation impersonnelle ou le site du flm,9 almost by
definition of the enunciative apparatus. Because, the film
adaptations appears so “faithful” to the original literary
text, and especially because Buzzati’s realistic “style” is
such a contrast to the so called “abstract” mise-en-scène
of the film, to use the Cannes Festival characterization,
that it seems at first that there is something missing as it
is so “transparent”. The difference between the two
matters of expression is of course critical.The fantastic for
ex. constantly makes use of rhetorical devices, because it
originates in them. “The supernatural is born out of
language. It is both its consequence and its proof: not
only the devil and vampires exist only in words but
language allows to conceive what is always absent: the
Supernatural.” (Todorov, 82) The fundamental difference
with film comes the fact that not only it creates an
impression of reality, it is also the reality of an impression.

The film is punctuated by strange events. Strange of

course has to be defined carefully here. There are actions
that simply don't make too much sense. What, who, how
9 Paris: Mediren Klinckieck, 1991.
long, why, in space and time, Individuals that behave
strangely. Why are they there? Why do they return. The
remote location of the Fort increases the mystery—it is
tempting to say uncanny atmosphere in the Fort— about
it that creates a kind of spell.10

Rituals imposed by an old fashioned discipline, i.e.

Prussian style. And what about the segment about the
Easter Sunday. A religious ceremony in a military
garrison? True, the Fort protects a “royal” kingdom. Ever
present, the invisible ghostly enemy, barbarians. Is what
we see at the end real of fantasized, by whom?
The selection of the major actors is precise: Simeone,
Captain Ortiz, Trunk, the Colonel, the General, the
Commandant, Lazare, Rovine, the doctor. They represent
the main lines of tension. One important source of tension
is the barely concealed conflict between the aristocrats
whose distinction is apparent and the others who resent
this visible superiority. One officer in particular stands out
by his refinement, Angusta, i.e. Von Hamerling in the film,

10 Anyone interested in pursuing the problem of enunciation in film and its difference with that of
the novel, for ex., should take a look at Christian Metz’s L’Enonciation impersonnelle ou le site
du film which includes an extensive bibliography. See also Francesco Casetti, and of course
Emile Benvéniste , Gérard Genette, Jacques Aumont, Raymond Bellour, to mention a few
critical studies. A translation of Metz’s first chapter substantially different from the book version,
was published in New Literary History, vol. 22, no. 3, 1991. I should mention, to digress briefly,
Metz amusing comment related to this topic, when departing from his usual scholarly prudence
when he mentions David Bordwell’s exasperation by the Gallic mania to use linguistic
terminology with reference to film, who of course doesn’t hesitate to abuse of the term
narration in his own work. A small echo of the simmering Franco-American theoretical conflict
about film theory. Pointing out that Bordwell’s excellent study of the subject matches his own
description of enunciation in film, Metz’s states that he prefers the term to narration as it is more
inclusive and precise. Metz’s “Quelques pas dans les nuages,” in L’Enonciation
impersonnelle, p.180f and the ending of the chapter.
determined to show, in spite of illness, that “noblesse
oblige”. The novel develops the cause of his death very
dramatically.
From novel to film: the film’s major segments:

The beginning is very similar. Drogo leaves for his new

assignment. Graduating from military school he is sent to
Fort Bastiano. Not knowing a thing about it, he is at once
anxious and happy, imagining like all the others that this
assignment will give him the opportunity to distinguish
himself. One of his friends accompanies him early
morning to the edge of town. Only the clatter of hooves is
heard. The farewell to his mother and fiancée is very brief.
He is sure he will be back soon. Interestingly, there is
nothing about a fiancée in the novel.
He rides for a whole day and spends the night under a
tree. The next morning he slowly rides out of a narrow
valley until he sees an officer and his aid in the distance.
The first two chapters are developed into twelve short
filmic segments11.

11 Drogo’s home town.

1. Drogo’s family home.

2. His mother wakes him. He gets dressed, ready to leave.

3. Drogo riding through the deserted town early morning. (2 or 3 shots).

4. Drogo says good bye to girlfriend (5 shots)

5. A friend accompanies hmm to the edge of town. (meadow and trees).

6. Mountains. Drogo riding (ordinary sequence).

7. Until he sees the officers in the distance and calls them.

8. Drogo’s horse drinks in the stream. Sees the captain.

9. Conversation with the captain who tells him that Bastiano is a dead border station.

10. Drogo continues riding alone to the Fort to report.

11. Drogo crosses the cemetery.

12. He arrives at the main entrance where he is met by Simeon.

Captain Orvitz, he meets on his way to the fort, gives him

a somewhat disenchanted introduction to the life in the
Fort.

Yet all the men (the film’s only woman appears but briefly
in the first scene) within the rigid hierarchy of officers are,
each in their turn, seduced by the paranoia of a mounting
threat that never materializes. Drogo finds that military life
at Bastiani is not what he imagined; there is no chance for
glory and only an endless restless watchfulness and
aching unsatisfying boredom. His first reaction, and his
wisest, is to leave, but his sincere regard for courage,
commitment and camaraderie causes him to doubt.
Opportunities slip by. Circumstances align against him. As
the years pass on quicker and quicker, he bids farewell to
superiors who lead with varying degrees of success and
leave with varying degrees of regret. As he rises through
the ranks, Drogo longs for the moment when he can
redeem the sacrifices he has made in a tangible
confrontation. The moment always lingers just beyond the
horizon.

Depending on how existential one is feeling, the film can

be read as a simple critique, even a condemnation, of the
sterility of military life or as a more wide-reaching parable
about the meaninglessness of human endeavor. The
senseless military discipline which is de rigueur at the
Fort. He meets Rovine and others. The orchestra plays12.

and obedience to rigid protocols is

exemplified by Mattis (Giuliano Gemma), an officer who
marches a sick man to death on a snowy peak, applauds
the shooting of a friendly soldier for not knowing the
correct password (despite being recognized) and who
forces a disobedient platoon to stand without food until
they begin to collapse.

Segmentation of The Desert of the Tartars (1976):

This is not intended to be a detailed breakdown of the

major syntagmas of the image track, but merely a rough
segmentation to facilitate a comparison with the novel
which is divided into thirty chapters.

Ch. 3. Accompanied by Morel, another officer who will

become his friend, Drogo meets Commandant Matis.
He informs him that he would
like to leave immediately,
that he didn’t ask for this
appointment. Matis explains

12Is that segment an in joke on the part of Zurlini since, all the actors testified on how well,
Perrin, the producer/actor treated them while at the fort.
to him the various ways, bureaucratically, he might be able
to do that, but since there is a medical visit for everyone in
4 months, he may as well stay, which would be the most
convenient and least unpleasant way to do it. Before
leaving, Drogo asks him if he would allow him to look out
of the window from his offie. Bu Matis refuses. "The
password” system used in the Fort, a masterpiece of the
absurdity of military regulations, as wasteful as they are
dangerous, as a later episode will demonstrate.

Ch. 6. Drogo, tries to write his mother and tell her about
his situation, but he realizes that he can’t because it would
upset her. On duty all night, lying on his narrow cot, Drogo
thinks about the happy days of his past, and realizes that
he has reached a point of no return in his life, trying to
imagine what the future will be, while the fort guard routine
continues with the shouts of the sentries on duty on the
ramparts. Drogo’s long reflection is not kept in the film.

Ch. 7. Having finally received his trunk which contains a

fancy coat, he puts it on and realizing that it is too elegant
to wear in the Fort, decides to visit the tailor in the
basement and order a more regulatory coat. This is the
occasion for another discussion of why people stayed so
long in the Fort—the tailor has been there for many years
and knows the rumors about the aliens— waiting for
something to happen, but what. No one knew. This entire
episode is missing from the film.
Ch. 8. Drogo’s new friends, half a dozen officers, discuss
at the end of a farewell dinner for one of them—count
Max Lagorio leaving the next day after two years at the

fortress. He teases Angustina,

trying to get him to leave with him. Much of this chapter
brings up the difference between Angustina and the other
officers. More elegant, more distinguished, and seemingly
aloof and indifferent to what amuses or interests the
others. He could leave, but won’t. Also, important for a
later episode, he seems ill, although he does conceal it as
much as possible. He seems to live by a different code.
This issue does come up occasionally, i.e. the officers
who come from an aristocratic background and the
others [something that existed in most European armies
before WWII]. Later the colonel will humiliate Matis, the
commandant, who lacks ‘savoir faire’ and distinction. Very
explicitly, the distance between the fort and the city where
life is normal and enjoyable is mentioned (2 days away),
emphasizing the contrast between the austere, harsh
situation at the Fort. This detail of course is not in the film
as the distance of the Fort remains vague and very far
away from any agglomeration.
Angustina comes down the next morning to bid farewell to
his friend leaving, a friend who while not sharing his views
or his education does understand him in some way. “They
were two different people.”

Ch. 9. Snow has fallen. Time has passed. Drogo reflects

about the time passing and visits Dr. Ravine

who, like almost everyone else did

not expect to stay at the Fort as long as he has. He asks
him what kind of certificate he prefers that would enable
him to leave the Fort. While the doctor continues to
speak, complaining about the fact that only the old timers
will be left at the the Fort, Drogo looks out the window and
is captivated by the Beauty of the Fort and its
surroundings, the sounds of soldiers marching on the
snow, the sounds of the trumpet, the darkness falling. As
Rovino is about to leave to ask the commandant to sign
the certificate, Drogo stops him and says that he wants to
stay, pleasing the Doctor.

Ch. 10. Proud and pleased, at least at first, with his

decision, Drogo reviews all the things that he sees at the
Fort, details of his everyday life, routines, habits as he
calls them; games, competitions with other officers, races,
the music of trumpets, the snow, the tours of duty, the sky,
the shape on the ceiling of his room, his bed; he is
beginning not to be aware of time passing. He is
spellbound. Much of this introspection is not included in
the film.

Ch. 11. Drogo’s Dream. The window and luxurious

palace, the fleeting figures which ignore him. He sees
himself as a. child, and Angustina who also ignores him.
follows a kind ballets of palanquins and other spirits.
None of this frustrating scene is in the film.

Ch. 12. The next day, Drogo was on duty, in charge of

the “New redoubt” which is isolated and 45 minutes away
from the Fort. He is responsible for the defense of this
post where he has never been, and which is almost on the
other side of the border. For the first time too, he can see
behind the mountain that mysterious hazy plain. At some
point he, Tronk and the soldiers on duty, see a dark shade
moving. They finally decide not to sound the alarm and
continue to watch what turns out to be a horse. But one
of the soldiers suddenly is convinced that it is his horse
which somehow must have escaped. During the change
of the guard, he manages to go get the horse and bring it
back. However, being new at the Fort, somehow he
doesn’t know the password and is unable to get back in.
Everyone knows who he is but the sentry responsible for
the door doesn’t want to recognize him and not getting the
right answer, shoots him. This is another illustration of the
rules and regulations enforced at the Fort.
Ch.13. The gunshot has been heard by everyone. The
commandant informed of what happened orders that the
body of the dead soldier be picked up and brought back.
He wants to find out who was the shooter, pleased to find
out that he was one of the elite shooters. The scene
brings. up the the commandant’s contempt towards Tronk,
an inferior.
These two chapters are condensed in the film. The horse
after all was not Lizzaro’s horse. But this incident brings
out the anxiety of the garrison expecting at any moment to
be attacked by the Tartars.

Ch.13. Alert. A small moving line appears on the horizon.

As this detachment of distinctly identifiable soldiers
continue to advance, the officer in charge of the redoubt
decides to shoot the canon, as a warning signal. The
tailor comes up to look and thinks he is dreaming. The
entire garrison knows the white heading and is waiting for
some communication from the colonel. Back in the
colonel’s office many officers come in on various pretexts
expecting him to say something. He doesn’t, seemingly
indecisive.
The text explores various reasons for this indecision: age,
deception, worry about the consequences…. The
commandant comes in to remind him that he is expected
to have a meeting with his officers. Which means that he
finally will have to say something about what is happening.
The commandant tells him that the number of enemies is
 THE COLONEL IN CHARGE O THE FORT AND THE VISITING GENERAL

increasing and can even be seen from his window. While

he is about to start speaking in the meeting room, a
dragon arrives in a great hurry carrying a message from
General Staff (Head Quarter). He reads the message and
says that the army they are seeing is not the enemy, i.e.
the Tartars , but soldiers from the country up North doing a
survey of the border. Since they haven’t finished their part
of the survey they should finish it as soon as possible.
And the Colonel orders the formation of a detail to do it.
The officers are obviously disappointed as their chance for
distinguishing themselves in combat disappeared.

Ch. 14. A detail of 40 men is promptly organized under the

commandment of Captain Monti seconded by Angustina.
Monti who dislikes Angustina which he considers a snob
because of his elegance and sophistication, takes this
opportunity to try to humiliate him and intentionally
increases the speed of the march in this difficult but
“beautiful” region (as Angustina notes). As they reach the
summit of of a rocky slope of the mountain, they hear a
landslide which can only have been caused by the
proximity of soldiers on the other side. The elegant boots
which Monti derided are beginning to hurt his feet as Monti
predicted. They reach a valley where they stop to eat and
rest, before climbing the abrupt face of the mountain
before them. Angustina is shivering. Again, the captain
picks the most difficult path to reach the summit
supposedly to reach the top faster. The climb continues
until they reach an area near the summit which stops
them. But soldiers from their Northern neighbor are
already there, on the other side, making fun of them.
Monti and the four soldiers settle as best they can to
protect themselves from the cold wind and the falling
snow. Angustina is exhausted and sits a little apart in the
same position as the main figure in a reproduction in the
Fort. There are lights in the distance, Drogo who didn’t
want to come to this trivial task sees them too. And mixes
them with the Palanquins and Angustina in the dream he
had in the previous chapter. Quietly Angustina dies.

Ch. 16. Four years have passed since Angustina’s

unheroic death. Ortiz came to see Drogo on duty on the
fourth redoubt. They have become friends. He gives
Drogo advice about his future. He should leave while
there is still time. Two more years and it will be too late.

It’s too late for Ortiz but not for

Drogo who still could have a good career in town. Drogo
thanks him and both understand that in spite of what he
says Ortiz doesn’t truly believe it. He can’t help looking at
the Northern side of the horizon.

Ch. 17. Spring has arrived. The snow is melting, trees

are waking up, birds sing again. Drogo somehow has
decided to go back home (he mentions two months in the
next chapter), although nothing is said explicitly. As in
previous chapters, the distance seems shorter than in the
film. Another chapter where the narrator evokes the
changing atmosphere at the Fort, contrasting it with that
of the the city. Little of this chapter is retained in the film.

Ch. 18. Drogo arrives back home and is welcome by the

servant and his mother. His brothers have left. Quickly
his happiness of having left the Fort is replaced by a
profound disappointment. Nothing has changed in the
town and yet everything is different, even the streets are
empty and most of his friends are gone. The sounds of the
town at night are different. His mother is losing her
hearing. He begins to think about the Fort. It’s like he
was’t there. No one seems to care and so many have
gone.

Ch. 19. First wandering in the town on this day of early

Spring, he goes visit Maria, his

friend’s sister with whom he used to have a close
relationship and it would appear he hoped some day
eventually to marry. But while she isn’t changed, at least
physically, things are not like they used to be, as if a veil
had come between them. The conversation is painful. He
is beginning to think that this is normal after such a long
absence and that in two months things will change and be
like what they used to be. But she announces as they
move to the garden, that she is about to leave for a trip to
Holland where she will see friends he doesn’t know and
enjoy the country with its flowers, windmills. She seems
hesitant waiting for him to say something but he is unable
to do it and eventually leaves.
This episode in the novel is very brief in the film.

Ch. 20. Drogo’s. Mother encourages him to seek an

interview with the general to try to be transferred to the
city, arguing that he has already spent 4 years at the fort,
which the general thinks is
insignificant.
She also contacts people
who help him get an
interview. After some idle
chatter, the general
begins to read and
comment THE GENERAL on his file and
tells him that the size of
the garrison will be
reduced. There are a few black marks in his file which
are unimportant. But he discovers that Drogo has not
applied to a transfer which twenty of his colleagues have
already done. Drogo tells the general that he has not
been told about the decision to reduce the size of the
garrison. He now feels that his request is pointless and
leaves.

In the film the location of this important chapter has been

changed from presumably Drogo’s hometown to the Fort
where the general pays regular visits, mostly because of
the quality of the food.13 The decision about the Fort is not
included in the film and neither is his colleagues’s
deception.

- 13This must be an in joke because all the actors said how well they were treated by the
producer who had the food catered to the .
Ch. 21. Back at the Fort, Drogo watches those leaving.
He goes to see Ortiz and asks him if what he told him
about when he could leave was untrue. Ortiz says the it
wasn’t. He himself long ago found himself in the same
situation.

Ch. 22. As the last group is getting ready to leave, S. who

is on duty on tower no. 3, asks Drogo to come over as he
wants him to see something. He gives Drogo a pair of
binoculars and asks him to tell him what he sees. At first
Drogo dismisses the black spot as something unimportant
and tells him that it is like the last incident. But S is
convinced that the “enemy” he has been watching for
several days is building a road. He didn’t want those
leaving to know. Drogo visits Ortiz and asks him about
this road building. It turns out that this was an open secret
everyone knows about it and doesn’t take it seriously.
That night, S asks Drogo to come over and look at
something. This time it was a small light. Left alone,
Drogo looked at the stars, the dark night and begins to
think about a better world, more enjoyable, trying to forget
those who were lucky to leave to go to that world.
Informed of Drogo and S discover, commandant Mattis
came to see but the light had disappeared. He told the
story at dinner time and everyone laughed at Drogo and S.
But five days later, it reappeared. S was convinced that it
was moving forward without being able to prove it. For
days the two of them observed now the small little lights
moving back and forth, speculating about what could be
going on.

Snow falls early, marking the end oof the nice season.
Drogo didn’t realize how time has passed since he came
back. He wonders about what those who stayed are
thinking. Even Ortiz is reconciled to his fate, waiting for
retirement.

Ch. 23. A few days later with the usual official order of
business, a statement appeared, asking everyone not to
pay attention to the rumors circulating and to use only
statutory optical instruments and for those who might have
some to turn them in. Clearly someone had said
something, indirectly alluding to S and Drogo’s activities.
Inexplicably, S avoided Drogo all day and when he finally
managed to take to him, he told him that he had changed
him mind about the lights. S also told him that he had
turned in the binoculars as he thought they were being
watched.

Ch. 24. As the good season ends, Drogo becomes more

acutely aware of the passing of time. He feels alone as his
friend no longer wants to talk about the road construction
hoping that in a few months he will see the progress the
strangers have made. He is giving up hope that anything
will ever happen. Days go by when he no longer looks
towards the North. Until, one day a small light appears in
his telescope and he suddenly regains enthusiasm.
Rumors are circulating again in the Fort. During the day
small black dots can be seen. It would seem that the
work, whatever it is, is progressing very slowly.

Ch. 25. This chapter begins by mentioning the

appearance of a pole planted at about one kilometer from
the new redoubt, a pole which is a sure sign of human
presence. This means that the foreigners have built their
road up to that point. It is visible to the naked eye from the
Fort. He surmises that it has taken fifteen years to build
the road, lieutenant S thought it would take six months,
but in the end it took fifteen miserable years to built that
road which will enable them to come near the Fort.
Fifteen years of painstaking work which passed like a
flash. Obviously, this is not the way the film will end.

The chapter contrasts the impact of fifteen years between

natur and, the Fort . The faces of those who have been
there, seemingly unchanged and yet aged a lot.

The routines at the Fort haven’t changed but a number of

senior officers have retired and left.
Ch. 28. The fort commander, now Simeon

visits Drogo who is not feeling well,

wondering whether he will be able to get up. Simeon tells
him that the enemy is now closer to the Fort. He also
informs him that he has ordered a carriage to take him
back to town. But Drogo says that he doesn’t want to
leave.

Ch. 29. Accompanied by two solders Drogo leaves the

Fort in very elegant carriage in the midst of a great deal of
activity due to the the arrival of the reinforcement as the
Fort is expecting an imminent attack from the enemy. Few
soldiers and officers come to say a brief good bye. He
leaves right away not waiting for Simeon who , very busy,
hasn’t yet come to see him. Very sad, Drogo looks at the
yellow walls of the Fort feeling abandoned by all. 30 years
of his life wasted waiting for something to happen that
would have enabled him to distinguish himself. Bt it never
happened . He is disgusted and angry.
Later that day, around 5:00PM, the carriage arrives at an
inn as a battalion going to the Fort is passing by. Terribly
disillusioned he fears that he will send the rest of his life in
a town that has forgotten him.
He sees a woman and a child. No one but himself cares
about him.

Ch. 30. Still in the inn, seated in an armchair, he looks at

the spectacular sunny day. He thinks about his life, the
activities at the Fort preparing for the fight; the life. in the
city. Below, a couple men begin to sing a popular love
song.
His aide-de-camp went downstairs to have a drink.
Alone, as the night falls, he meditates about the meaning
of his miserable life. Suddenly a terrible thought entered
his mind: the thought of death. Time has stopped. He has
reached the end of his journey; suddenly filled with
excitement, he realizes, that the real battle is yet to
happen. He dies a smile on his lips.

Not surprisingly, the disillusioned, desolate ending of the

last three chapters, Drogo waiting to die far from home
and from the Fort, was not included in the film version of
the story. Why? As noted earlier, Zurlini is more interested
in the filmic experience than the story of this remote
fortress and the spellbinding atmosphere that it creates
than in Drogo’s existential anguish. Thus, the elimination
of the novel’s ending confirms his distaste for this
continual self examination and pathetic recriminations as
he changes Drogo’s personality into a passive spectator
caught in a situation that may be real of imagined. A
spectator who mediates the story for us.
Given the number of versions14, the film’s ending varies,
and it seems that one solution is to take the recent
restoration of the film in 2013, as the most accurate
version: 2 hours and 24 minutes long. There are longer
versions (140 minutes, the 1976 version) and others,
shorter. Needless to say, this raises a number of
difficulties since the editor of this final cut is not known.
And neither is the difference between this version which
was used as the master for the two DVDs and the original
release version of the film, and in what language. I am not
sure whether the real ending of the film, i.e. the original
version can be verified either15 since some versions on
line differ. The fact that most critics agree on, the Tartars
are never seen, the 2013 version ending seems consistent
with the “abstract” treatment of the filmed version
whatever the ending variations, confirm the intent of the
narrative withholding a realistic ending from the spectator
The tartars are indeed the mythic tartars of antiquity, there
and not there, we will never know.

Excluding all psychological , philosophical and even poetic

passages from the novel, Zurlini focused on the physical
activities at the Fort and , the strictly essential interaction
between the occupants to move the narrative forward.

14Apparently there is a certain amount of footage that has been cut but I am
unable to verify, what, why, and how many shots have been removed
15 The script by André Brunelin has not been published obviously for copyright reasons since
in spite of the differences it is a close adaptation —the producer thought so—of the novel.
The final development is also kept to a minimum, mostly
the increased tension due to the enemy’s action, much
more minimal than the building of the road described in
the novel.

As in the novel, Drogo is ill. Two scenes seem very

critical: as something has been seen and taken seriously
enough to justify the need for reinforcements; and the final
conversation between Drogo and the Fort’s commandant
now Simeon, in Drogo’s room.

Often dismissed as rumor throughout the film, every time

someone sees or imagines seeing something in the
distance, the sighting at the end of the film confirms
Simeon earlier speculation, while he now dismisses it.
Skeptical a first, Drogo now is convinced that there is
something going on. Drogo whose illness is becoming
more apparent insists on going to the ramparts to see for
himself. He and Simeon are on the ramparts as soldiers
bring up equipment. Simeon gives him his powerful

binoculars. As he begins looking he

faints and falls down, and there is no pov shot to show
the cause of his malaise. We, spectators, never find out
what is out there. While the preparation for an eventual
attack is going on and reinforcements are being
dispatched—some time ago, the size of the garrison had
been reduced—following the conversation with Simeon in
a very long segment, Drogo is leaving.

Because of the number of odd events, and the peculiar

protocol at the Fort, the film has generally been classified
as fantastic or even surreal. These terms have long
ceased to mean anything very precise16. Furthermore, the
fantastic is difficult to apply to cinema because as Metz
noted In one of his early essays, cinema “relies on more
matters of expression than other media.” Still or moving
images, written language, noises, music and speech can
be used to make a film. This wealth of material conveys
an Impression of reality which is more powerful than in any
art forms and thus doesn’t lend itself readily to create an
17

hesitation which usually the spectator experiences when

confronted with the fantastic.
And in “Le Signifiant imaginaire”18:
“Filmic perception is a real perception (it is really a
perception) which cannot be reduced to an internal
psychical perception. The spectator receives images and
sounds which stand for the representation of something
16 In his essay on the subject in in Encyclopedia Universalis, Roger Caillois doesn’t even include
cinema among the art forms better suited to represent the fantastic.
17 Essais sur la signification au cinéma (Paris: Klincksieck, 1966).

Paris: Christian Bourgeois, 1993. Originally published in Communications, no. 25 in 1975.

18

My translation.
else than themselves, a diegetic world, but which remain
genuine images and genuine sounds”.

Zurlini doesn’t use special effects. And if anything the

film is fairly ‘transparent’, i.e. its markers of enunciation,
which would explain why a number of events in the film
seem a little odd. But not fantastic. Instead, Zurlini relies
on temporal representation to create an impression which
is real and yet abnormal.19
So, rather than the “fantastic” it is tempting to use Tzvetan
Todorov’s category of the “fantastic-strange.”20 The last
two segments and especially the interaction between
Simeon and Drogo introduces a hesitation which is
essential for that “genre”. However Todorov’s excessively
narrow definition restricts the use of his definition.
Yet, Zurlini21 skillful editing succeeds in creating a malaise
through his manipulation of the spectator’s identification.

19Thus, in spite of substantial differences, the film does follow the overall narrative development of the
novel.
But it is clear that the reason for these differences: the importance of time and the passing of time, the
isolation, loneliness and frustration of these officers who came there in search of an event that might
give them a chance to achieve glory, the spell of the unknown, the psychological state of the major
protagonists, and especially Drogo, rendered in a very realistic style is not what interested Zurlini.

20Todorov’s term doesn’t carry the connotation of “uncanny,” which the English translation uses.
The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1973).

In a way, Buzzati’s story illustrates his remark quoted earlier, although, most of the interior
21

monologues and the passing “poetic” digressions that often appear in connection with interior
monologues, are not characteristic of journalistic reporting.
Thus, in this novel at least, he seems more interested in achieving a certain degree of realism but the details do in
some way introduce an amount of “banality” which contrasts with the extreme aspects of the story. Fantasy, possibly,
but not a genuine fantastic, assuming that his concept of fantasy does border on the Fantastic.
In a way, the film is closer to a “flat”, matter of fact, representation of the story. There are no special effects.
Zurlini doesn’t attempt to deceive us, the presence of the strangers/enemies remains entirely mediated by the
characters in the story, an invisible presence actually seen by the spectator. Are they all victim of a spell?
There is no doubt that all the residents of the Fort are.,
There is no need to invoke Lacan’s “evil eye” to
recognize a genuine cinematic experience, a “cinema
effect” to misuse Jean-Louis Baudry’s expression; It
occasionally occurs in the films of Dreyer, Lang, Resnais,
Mizoguchi or Oshima to name a few. Or to use Octave
Mannoni’s characterization of the theater22: “Je sais bien
mais quand même.”23 In other words well made films
succeed in triggering “a fiction effect”24 when we forget
that we are in a movie theater through the misnamed
(mistranslated rather) mechanism of denegation. Which
doesn’t mean that it applies to an entire film but moments
that take us by surprise.25

Illustrations from the publicity site of the

Cannes Film Festival

18. “Je sais bien mais quand même,’ in Clefs pour l’imaginaire ou l’Autre Scène (Paris: Le
Seuil, 1985).
24See Christian Metz:”Le Signifiant imaginaire,” Communications, no. 25 (1975) and in the
same issue “Le film de fiction et son spectateur.”
25 “‘L’Huître et moi.” Forthcoming. On the problem of L’Après-coup in fiction films.