Just Another War (aka Men Opposed aka Many Wars Ago)

Perhaps Rosi's angriest work, Just Another War is a World War I drama imbued with the vehement, in-the-trenches anti-militarism of Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory Peter Bondanella describes Rosi’s film as “an Italian Farewell to Arms, uncovering the stupidity of the commanders of the Italian army during the disastrous battles leading up to Caporetto.” Alain Cuny stars as the upper-class general who orders his troops into an obviously hopeless battle again the Austrians. Gian Maria Volonté and Mark Frechette are the subordinates who must reconcile the necessity of obeying commands with the dictates of conscience. Based on the memoirs of Emilio Lussu, an anti-fascist activist who later became an Italian senator, the film centres on, in Rosi's words, “the clear separation between the men who had decided to initiate the war and those who had been mobilized to fight it.” The sensitive subject matter scared off producers, forcing the director to finance the project himself. Colour, 35mm, in Italian with English subtitles. 101 mins.