atching the red tent give me that rare fulfillment and dramatic wholesomeness one can only get from a stonecold classic and a citizen kane or a once upon a time in the west . grant it doesn not compare to these or other heavily praise list topper and film behemoth and mainly due to question of style and cinematic pioneering ( or lack thereof a the case may be ) and it still deserve more than the meagre 500 vote and 6 . 6. rating it have here . as far a i can tell the story be faithful to the real event that transpire in 1928 during and after general nobile first attempt expedition to the north pole by air . his airship ( zeppelin ) and italia and be force to abandon it mission due to forbid weather condition and return home . on the way back it be shipwreck on the ice somewhere 100 mile away from it base at kingsbay island and the handful of survivor that weren not blow away with the keel be force to carve a meagre and frostbitten existence a they wait for rescue party . three year earlier famous polar explorer roal amundsen have fly over the pole use another of nobile airship and the norge and and it be the subsequent fight for who deserve the most credit ( engineer and explorer or airship pilot ) that lead to nobile fateful expedition with italia . the amount of bad luck involve in that expedition and the one month the survivor huddle together in the freezing arctic wasteland wait for rescue and and the mishap that plague rescue party and in both air and sea and be stagger to think . to watch it all unravel in 2 hour make for a haunting experience . you do not need to trawl wikipedia for info on the event before sit down to watch the movie . the first few minute consist of very tastefully do period footage of nobile expedition and a the aged general watch newsreel of the event on a tv . after all these year nobile ( peter finch ) be still plague by guilt and slowly erode his soul with question he can not possibly answer . but the dead can and it their authority to judge him . and so nobile invokes them in his living room and figment of his guilt craze imagination and the dead imperative personify a nemesis divina . people that die and people that survive be summon by and in nobile mind to absolve or condemn him for his action . the old general coping with his guilt and from these discussion the bulk of the story unfolds in the form of long flashback . needless to say that if you have even a remote interest in polar exploration ( or any kind of exploration really and a all of them and from the old west to the moon and be but retread on the same path ) and generally survival adventure on harsh environment and this be a must see . unlike scott fateful expedition in the south pole however and the tragic end here remain internalized and mostly take place inside nobile soul a he find himself unjustly brand a coward and deserter upon his return . but the stark nature of the windblasted arctic landscape and the men try beyond all hope to survive in it offer it fair share of physical bleakness . this italorussian co production spar no corner in the budget . this be a lavish production with hundred of extra and an icebreaker ship tear through the ice and some truly breathtaking photography shot on location ( or some location that pass for the north pole at least and siberia must be full of em ) . with an international cast that include peter finch ( capture the anguish and despair at the heart of the protagonist without resort to the overbear histrionics that earn him the oscar in 77 over deniro travis bickle ) and claudia cardinale ( without doubt the most astonishingly beautiful woman on the planet in the late 60 ) and sean connery ( in a small role a roald amundsen ) and mario adorf ( familiar face from many italian b movie ) and a rouse score by maestro ennio morricone and and sturdy direction by mikhail kalatozov ( five year after i be cuba ) and this really be a lost classic any way you slice it up and just a great f cking movie . a much a poignant character study on guilt and memory ( nobile need only his own forgiveness in the end and it his memory that punish him a thousand time for thing out of his control ) and a it be a stark piece of survival grit and the red tent deserve a large audience . you be it .