MesmeroWatch list, 0 saved

Movie
Poster for The Desert of the Tartars

The Desert of the Tartars

1976 · 140 min

A slow, haunting meditation on waiting and duty, with stark, painterly images that linger like a half-remembered dream.

Directed by
Valerio Zurlini
Genres
History, Drama
Starring
Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Giuliano Gemma
Overview
Lieutenant Giovanni Drogo is assigned to the old Bastiani border fortress where he expects an imminent attack by nomadic fearsome Tartars.

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Search YouTube for a trailer

In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Valerio Zurlini
Genres
History, Drama
Starring
Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Giuliano Gemma
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • bleakstrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • eeriestrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • isolation
  • fate
  • obsession
  • mystery
  • death
Places
  • military
  • wilderness
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror2
Humour1
Realism7
Romance1
Tension6
Darkness7
Complexity7
Emotional weight8

More like this

Titles like The Desert of the Tartars

Movie

The Seventh Seal

1957

A solemn, haunting meditation on mortality and faith, unfolding with stark imagery and quiet existential dread.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation and death · nonlinear

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
  • death
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
96 min
Details
The Seventh SealHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Signs of Life

1968

A slow, sun-bleached descent into restlessness and paranoia, watching idle men unravel in a quiet, alien place.

Bleak, tense, slow-burn · about isolation and obsession · nonlinear

Via
  • bleak
  • tense
  • isolation
  • obsession
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
91 min
Details
Signs of LifeHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Das Boot

1981

A claustrophobic, grueling descent into war's tedium and terror, leaving you exhausted and moved.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation and death

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
  • death
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
150 min
Details
Das BootHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Sebastiane

1976

A slow, hypnotic plunge into repressed desire and religious suffering, with stark imagery and Latin dialogue that keeps you at a chilly distance.

Melancholic, tense, slow-burn · about isolation and obsession · nonlinear

Via
  • melancholic
  • tense
  • isolation
  • obsession
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
86 min
Details
SebastianeHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Rata

2016

A hushed, oppressive wait for dawn that makes silence itself feel like a threat.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation and fate

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
  • fate
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Details
RataHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Thin Red Line

1998

A haunting, meditative immersion into the terror and beauty of combat, where whispered introspection and lush imagery linger long after the guns fall silent.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation and death · nonlinear

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
  • death
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
171 min
Details
The Thin Red LineHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Natural Light

2021

A slow, immersive plunge into wartime dread, seen through a quiet man's eyes as control slips away.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
103 min
Details
Natural LightHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

1959

A gruelling, morally serious descent through military cruelty that weighs on you long after it ends.}<​/think>{.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
178 min
Details
The Human Condition II: Road to EternityHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Chess Story

2021

A claustrophobic, cerebral descent into obsession, where psychological torment and chess become a fight for sanity.

Bleak, tense, slow-burn · about isolation and obsession

Via
  • bleak
  • tense
  • isolation
  • obsession
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
110 min
Details
Chess StoryHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Apocalypse Now

1979

A hypnotic, harrowing descent into madness, with stunning imagery and a mounting sense of dread that lingers long after.

Bleak, tense, slow-burn · nonlinear

Via
  • bleak
  • tense
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
147 min
Details
Apocalypse NowHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Red Tent

1969

A somber, reflective chronicle of guilt and survival, unfolding slowly amid icy desolation and haunting introspection.

Same composer: Ennio Morricone · Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation · nonlinear

Also
Same composer: Ennio Morricone
Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
158 min
Details
The Red TentHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Wall

1967

A claustrophobic, philosophical wait for death that weighs every silence and glance with dread.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation and fate · nonlinear

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • isolation
  • fate
  • nonlinear
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
91 min
Details
The WallHidden from your suggestions.

Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
history, drama
Directed by
Valerio Zurlini
Written by
André G. Brunelin, Valerio Zurlini
Starring
Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Giuliano Gemma, Helmut Griem, Philippe Noiret, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, Laurent Terzieff
Music
Ennio Morricone
Cinematography
Luciano Tovoli
Runtime
140 min
Country
France, Germany, Italy
Languages
Italian

TMDBIMDbLetterboxdWikipediaWikidata

Something wrong on this page? Tell us.