8.4 /10 1 Votes
Directed by Mohamed Shukri Jameel Edited by Bill Blunden Director Mohamed Shukri Jameel Budget 24 million USD | 8.3/10 IMDb Music by Ron Goodwin Initial release 1983 Music director Ron Goodwin Cinematography Jack Hildyard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Iraqi Film and Theater Foundation Written by Ramadan Gatea Mozan,
Lateif Jorephani and
Mohamed Shukri Jameel. Starring Oliver Reed
John Barron
James Bolam
Helen Ryan
Sami Abdul Hameed Cast Oliver Reed, James Bolam, Helen Ryan, Marc Sinden, John Barron Similar Blind Justice, The Brigand of Kandahar, Long Days, The Class of Miss MacMichael, His and Hers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clash of Loyalties (Arabic: Al-Mas'ala Al-Kubra, aka The Great Question) is a 1983 Iraqi film focusing on the formation of Iraq out of Mesopotamia in the aftermath of the First World War.
Contents
The film was financed by Saddam Hussain, filmed in Iraq (mainly at the Baghdad Film Studios in Baghdad's Mansour neighbourhood and on location at the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands, Babylon and Kut) at the height of the Iran–Iraq War and starred Oliver Reed as Gerard Leachman, Marc Sinden as Captain Dawson and Helen Ryan as Gertrude Bell, with a stirring score by Ron Goodwin.
Investigative journalist James Montague, writing in the July 2014 issue of Esquire magazine, claimed that Marc Sinden spied for the British Government's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during the filming of Clash of Loyalties in Iraq, after being made "an offer he couldn’t refuse, appealing to his duty and his pride in Queen and Country." In the article Sinden admitted that it was true.
It is known for being the last film made to use the now banned "Running W" technique, invented by the only Oscar-winning stuntman Yakima (Yak) Canutt, which was a method of bringing down a horse at the gallop by attaching a wire, anchored to the ground, to its fetlocks and so launching the rider forwards spectacularly at a designated point. It invariably killed the horse, or at best it was unrideable afterwards. The British stuntman Ken Buckle (who had been trained by Yak) performed the highly-dangerous stunt three times during the huge cavalry charge sequence.
Both Arab and English versions of the film were produced.
Clash of loyalties
Release and Reception
The film was nominated for the Golden Prize at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival in 1983. It was screened at the 1984 London Film Festival, but was not otherwise shown theatrically in the United Kingdom.