Uomini contro / Many Wars Ago / Men Against… / Just Another War / Men Opposed (1970) Blu-Ray RaroVideo, DVD9 Minerva Classic, download for free

May07

Uomini contro / Many Wars Ago / Men Against… / Just Another War / Men Opposed (1970) Blu-Ray RaroVideo, DVD9 Minerva Classic

by movieworld on May 7th, 2019 at 18:02

The action takes place during the First World War on the Assagio, where Italian troops are fighting the Austrians for possession of Northern Italy. War has turned into a bloody stalemate. The ‘troops’ comprise of farmers and labourers who have little experience of war and are fatigued and homesick. Bogged down in their trenches on a barren highland, the men of an Italian infantry division have been given one objective: retake a commanding height from the enemy. Unfortunately, the tactical ingenuity of General Leone, the unpopular division commander, consists of supplementing frontal attacks against machine-guns with medieval fighting schemes. His dispirited troops must be prodded with ever harsher measures into storming the Austrian positions. Indignation spreads amongst the rank and file...

Although it covers some of the same thematic ground as Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory — the absurdities of a war run by the upper-crust but fought by the lower class — Francesco Rosi's Many Wars Ago fights the anti-war fight in its own way, highlighting the tedium and terror of The Great War's trenches. Rosi's approach to the combat is dirty and naturalistic, with carefully chosen moments of gore used to underscore the consequences of bad strategies.

Director: Francesco Rosi
Cast: Mark Frechette, Alain Cuny, Gian Maria Volonte, Giampiero Albertini, Pier Paolo Capponi
Country: Italy, Yugoslavia
Genre: Drama, War

BD25 | 1080p AVC | 01:41:10 | 22 Gb + 3% rec
Language: Italiano
Subtitles: English

Extras:
- Interview with Director Francesco Rosi (HD, 28:31): An excellent interview with Rosi, who recounts the difficulty of getting the film made and describes his intent to recount the atrocities of modern war and, specifically, to ridicule the "rhetorical image" of World War I.
- Film Restoration: Before and After (HD, 2:09): A side-by-side demonstration of the clean-up work and color balancing applied to this new remaster.