Synopsis:
The guilt-ridden surviving general (Peter Finch) of a dirigible crash near the Arctic in 1928 is visited by ghosts of various people involved in the event — including his pilot (Nikita Mikhalkov), Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (Sean Connery), the girlfriend (Claudia Cardinale) of a Swedish meteorologist (Eduard Martsevich), rescue aviator Einar Lundborg (Hardy Kruger), and the chief of the Soviet rescue crew (Grigoriy Gay).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Claudia Cardinale Films
• Explorers
• Flashback Films
• Ghosts
• Guilt
• Peter Finch Films
• Sean Connery Films
• Search
• Survival

Review:
This joint Soviet/Italian film was directed by Mikhail Kalatozov and based on a novel crafted from the real-life outcome of the airship Italia (which I hadn’t heard of prior to watching this movie). It’s framed as a flashback tale of survivor’s guilt (17 men died), with Finch (General Nobile) literally haunted by the choices he made each step of the way.

However, the bulk of the movie takes place in exciting location-based action. I’ll cite from Wikipedia’s entry on the film, since it nicely provides an overview of what happens:

The expedition is successful at first, but ends in disaster. The Italia is weighed down when ice forms on it. Colliding with the ground, the airship’s gondola is torn away from its keel and the envelope containing the airship’s hydrogen cells; freed of the weight of the gondola, the rest of the ship floats away and out of control, taking some of Nobile’s crew with it. Nobile maintains control of the surviving crew who are now marooned on arctic pack ice with salvaged supplies. They shelter in a tent that they dye red for visibility. They manage to repair the radio, but after receiving no response to their distress calls, three survivors (Zappi, Mariano, and Malmgren) decide to set off across the ice to seek help.

Much more drama ensues from there — and you’re guaranteed to be kept on the seat of your pants despite knowing the ultimate outcome.

As one can imagine, the shooting schedule for this visually impressive film was truly extensive; according to IMDb’s trivia, “Filming went for 62 weeks” and “included location work in Estonia, the Baltic Sea and the Spitzbergen Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, and [included] studio work in Moscow and Rome.” While not all of the story is equally compelling (i.e., Cardinale is clearly there simply to provide a female touch):

… it’s worth a look for the footage alone.

Note: It was interesting to learn that “the film was shown in the West and in the USSR in different editing versions and with different soundtracks: in the Soviet version, sounds the music of Aleksandr Zatsepin, in the Italian version [which I watched]: Ennio Morricone’s.”

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• A haunting look at death and survival in the harshest conditions
  
• Truly impressive cinematography and location shooting
  
  
• Ennio Morricone’s score

Must See?
Yes, as a fine and ambitious internationally-produced adventure film.

Categories

• Good Show

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Village Voice Review
• Moria Review