In 1929,
Italian fascist dictator
Benito Mussolini is still faced with the
10-year-long war waged by patriots in the Italian colony of
Libya to combat
Italian colonization and the establishment of "The
Fourth Shore"—the rebirth of a
Roman Empire in Africa. Mussolini appoints General
Rodolfo Graziani as his sixth governor of Libya, confident that the eminently accredited soldier and fascist Grande can crush the rebellion and restore the dissipated glories of Imperial Rome.
Omar al-Mukhtar leads the resistance to the fascists. A teacher by profession,
guerrilla by obligation, Mukhtar had committed himself to a war that cannot be won in his own lifetime. Graziani controls Libya with the might of the
Regio Esercito (
Royal Italian Army). Tanks and aircraft are used in the desert for the first time. The Italians also committed atrocities—killing of prisoners of war, destruction of crops, and imprisoning populations in
concentration camps behind barbed wire. The film starts by introducing the audience to the historical context. This introductory scene is part of historic records that present the rise of fascism in Italy and how it impacted Libya tragically. The scene concludes by stating that the characters and the events in this film are real and based on historical facts. The first scene after the introduction starts with Mussolini in Italy, who created the
Fascist Party in Italy, complaining about his generals’ defeats in Libya. To crush the Libyan resistance after 20 years of failure, and after losing five of the best Italian generals, Mussolini sends his most skillful general, Graziani, to Libya. This scene is then contrasted with a scene of Omar Al-Mukhtar, the old teacher who turned into a fighting rebel during the Italian colonization, teaching his young students in Libya. Graziani goes to Libya and starts his campaign to crush the rebellion. The Libyans show great tenacity and make enormous sacrifices to defend their country. Despite their bravery, the
Libyan Arabs and
Berbers suffer heavy losses, because their relatively primitive weaponry is no match for
mechanised warfare; despite all this, they continue to fight and manage to keep the Italians from achieving complete victory for 20 years. Graziani is only able to achieve victory through deceit, deception, violation of the laws of war and human rights, and by the use of tanks and aircraft. Omar Al-Mukhtar shows great perseverance and wisdom in leading the resistance movement. He enters into negotiations with the Italians to liberate Libya, but never reaches a deal with them because they pretend to negotiate only to win time. They ask him for significant concessions and promise him some materialistic rewards to end the resistance movement, but Al-Mukhtar never accepts any of that, even after they capture him. They hang him in public to show the Libyans that resisting them is useless, but the resistance does not stop with Al-Mukhtar's death. Despite the Libyans' lack of modern weaponry, Graziani recognizes the skill of his adversary in waging
guerrilla warfare. In one scene, Al-Mukhtar refuses to kill a defenseless young officer, instead giving him the
Italian flag to bring home to Italy. Mukhtar says that
Islam forbids him from killing captured soldiers and demands that he only fight for his homeland, and that Muslims are taught to hate war itself. In the end, Mukhtar is captured and tried as a rebel. His lawyer, Captain Lontano, states that since Mukhtar had never accepted Italian rule, he cannot be tried as a rebel and instead must be treated as a
prisoner of war (which would save him from being hanged). The judge rejects this assertion, and the film ends with Mukthar being publicly executed by hanging. == Cast ==