The Desert of the Tartars (Italian: Il deserto dei Tartari) is a 1976 award-winning film by Italian director Valerio Zurlini with an international cast, including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Helmut Griem, Giuliano Gemma, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Rey, and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The cast also included Iranian film veteran actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz.
It is based on the Dino Buzzati's novel The Tartar Steppe. The film omits certain parts of the novel, especially those relating to the lives of Drogo's friends in his home town.
It was filmed in Arg-e Bam, Iran, and was released on 29 October 1976 in (Italy)
The film's visual style was influenced by the work of Italian painter Giorgio De Chirico.
The film tells the story of a young officer, Giovanni Drogo (Jacques Perrin), and the time that he spent guarding the Bastiani Fortress, an old, unmaintained border fortress.
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