Khartoum (film)

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Movie
German title Khartoum
Original title Khartoum
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1966
length 134 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Basil Dearden
script Robert Ardrey
production Julian Blaustein
United Artists
music Frank Cordell
camera Edward Scaife
cut Fergus McDonell
occupation

Khartoum is a 1966 British monumental film directed by Basil Dearden, starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier .

action

In Egypt-controlled Sudan, an uprising broke out in 1881 under Muhammad Ahmad , known as the Mahdi . To counter this danger, the Egyptian Khedive Tawfiq raised an army of 10,000 men and sent them under the command of the English Colonel William Hicks to Sudan to put down the uprising. However, the Mahdi succeeds in luring the army into an ambush, defeating it and capturing all weapons.

In London, Prime Minister Gladstone is conferring with his cabinet on how to proceed with regard to British interests in Egypt. Gladstone is unwilling to send a British army to Sudan; this is supported by the report of intelligence officer Colonel Stewart, who also refuses to send troops. To save face of the British Empire, Earl Granville suggests sending the former governor of Sudan, General Charles George Gordon , who also abolished slavery at the time, to Khartoum and evacuating all Egyptians. Should something go wrong, it would be him and not the British government that would be to blame. Gladstone rejects this proposal to his cabinet, but secretly meets with Gordon and asks him to take on this task. To be on the safe side, he puts Colonel Stewart at his side.

Arriving in Egypt, Gordon is appointed governor of Sudan by the Khedive and shortly afterwards meets with the former slave trader Zobeir Pasha , who is the only one with enough power and influence in Sudan to be able to resist the Mahdi. But Zobeir refuses to take over Sudan from Gordon, who had Zobeir's son executed years ago in his fight against the slave trade.

As they drive up the Nile , Gordon and Stewart discover that the Mahdi’s troops are already far downstream. Stewart advises Gordon to return, but he doesn't let himself be dissuaded from his goal of saving Khartoum.

Arriving in the city, Gordon has his servant Khaleel find out where the Mahdi is camped and rides to him. A meeting takes place and Gordon proposes evacuating Khartoum and Sudan from the Egyptians and handing them over to the Mahdi, which the Mahdi rejects. The Mahdi claims to act in the name of the Prophet Mohammed and to reestablish the pure commandments of Islam. Since Egypt is against him, he wants to conquer Khartoum by force and kill every Egyptian. He considers this example necessary to bring Islam back to the true faith. In addition, he draws a comparison between his actions and Gordon's punitive measures against the slave traders, whom he then executed.

Back in Khartoum, Gordon is determined to save the Egyptians and wants to seek military aid from the London government, but the telegraph connection has already been cut by the Mahdists . Gordon has the city fortified in the meantime and requisitions all cattle and grain in the area. When a messenger comes back from a still intact telegraph station with the news that the British government does not believe Gordon's description of the situation in Sudan and asks him to come back, Stewart sends Stewart to report personally in London. Meanwhile the Mahdi closes the siege ring around Khartoum, but cannot attack yet because the Nile is too high.

In Great Britain, after speaking with Stewart, Gladstone orders General Garnet Wolseley to lead the Gordon Relief Expedition to rescue Gordons in Sudan. After arriving in Egypt, however, Stewart learns from Sir Evelyn Baring that Wolseley has orders to advance his troops only slowly in order to enable Gordon to escape, but that he should not relieve Khartoum. Gladstone doesn't want to risk losing a British army. Stewart decides to take a ship to Khartoum and get Gordon out; The latter refuses, however, and sends Stewart down the Nile by ship with the Europeans, diplomats and as many civilians as possible.

After an initial defeat, the Mahdists manage to stop the ship and kill everyone on board. The Mahdi sends Gordon a fake message that the British Army is approaching, but later arranges a meeting between himself and him to offer him to leave Khartoum, as he has now gained respect for Gordon. But Gordon refuses the offer and returns to town.

In the meantime Wolseley's army moves up the Nile and gets into fights with the Mahdists, who are also won, but the Mahdi attack on Khartoum begins when the water level of the Nile is very low. The defenders were unable to hold off the outnumbered Mahdi troops for long, and the governor's palace was stormed. When Gordon confronts the Mahdists, there is silence for a moment, but then he is killed and the fight continues.

After the conquest, Gordon's head, impaled on a pole, is presented to the Mahdi, to which he reacts angrily, because he did not want this.

Final scene

The final scene is accompanied by a comment from the off and shows the film's ideological perspective on the historical events, especially on the Mahdi and his followers:

“The army was two days late. Two days. And the Sudanese had to pay the price for 15 years. With hunger and misery. The English with shame and many wars. A few months after Gordon's death, the Mahdi also died. The cause of death remains mysterious. Gordon was laid to rest in his beloved Sudan. We don't know how long his memory will stay alive. But we know one thing: a world in which there is no room for people like Gordon is a world that will sink into dust again. "

- Voiceover at the end of the film

criticism

"Adventure film that entertains with a lot of fighting, some sentimental episodes and great landscape shots of the Nile, but simplifies the political background."

- Lexicon of international film

"Filmed on original locations on the Nile and in the Sudanese desert, the film impresses above all with breathtaking battle and crowd scenes [...]"

- prism

“Elaborate memorial for an important, but also controversial officer. The film abstains from making a clear statement and simplifies the political background. From 16, but without recommendation. "

- Protestant film observer

background

  • The siege of Khartoum during the Mahdi uprising served as a template for the film .
  • Julian Blaustein made the film for United Artists .
  • The opening scenes on the Nile were produced under the supervision of Eliot Elisofon.
  • Because of the unrest in Sudan at the time, Laurence Olivier refused to shoot there, so all scenes in which he can be seen were shot in England.
  • Yakima Canutt shot the fight and crowd scenes with the second camera team.
  • The film was shot in Ultra Panavision 70 and was long considered the last film in this widescreen format. It wasn't until 2015 that Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight was shot again using Ultra-Panavision 70 lenses.
  • Because of the theme, women were only seen in extras.
  • The film was released on DVD under the title Khartoum - The Uprising on the Nile .

Awards / nominations

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Khartoum. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Khartoum on prisma.de
  3. ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 365/1966