Tobruk (2008 film)

Tobruk is a 2008 film written and directed by Václav Marhoul and starring Jan Meduna and Petr Vanek. It is an adaptation of the classic American Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, but transfers the action to North Africa during World War II.

Plot

Jiří and Jan are two Czech soldiers, fighting alongside the Allied forces against the Italians during World War II in Tobruk, Libya. Jiří Pospichal, 18 years old, signs up as a volunteer in the Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion. His naive ideas about heroism are rawly confronted with the hell of the African desert, complicated relationships in his unit and the ubiquitous threat of death. All this takes its cruel toll in the shape of his gradual loss of self-respect and courage.

Cast

• Jan Meduna as Private Pospíchal
• Petr Vanek as Private Lieberman
• Robert Nebřenský as Corporal Kohák
• Krystof Rímský as Private Kutina

Reception

The film was nominated for eight Crystal Lions at the 2009 Czech Lion Ceremony. It won best cinematography (Vladimir Smutny), best score (Richard Horowitz and Sussan Deyhim) and best sound (Pavel Rejholec and Jakub Cech).

References

External links

• Official website
• Tobruk on IMDb