Bitter Victory

A war film set in North Africa. During the Second World War the British command plans a raid in Libya: a small unit will cross the desert and take documents from a German headquarters. Major Brand is put in charge. Captain Leith is chosen as his second; before the war he was an archaeologist and knows the region, the language and the desert. There is something between them. Brand's wife was with Leith before the war and Brand knows it. The raid section is short. The film's real subject is the way back: hundreds of kilometres on foot with the wounded, without water, in the heat of the day and the cold of the night. On that march Brand makes a series of decisions, and it emerges that each one means leaving a wounded man behind. Leith sees it and says so. The question at the centre is courage: Brand cannot manage his fear through the mission and knows that Leith knows. The medal, meanwhile, goes to the wrong man. Richard Burton plays Leith, Curd Jürgens plays Brand and Ruth Roman the woman. Nicholas Ray directed. The film was cut by the studio on release and was not well received; it was later counted among the director's hardest works. A strong production for anyone who likes war films and narratives that question the patterns of heroism. For a viewer expecting action, the film is built on marching and talk rather than combat.