Sahara - Monica Weir
It was clear in watching Sahara that the main purpose of the film was to promote patriotism. While it is a good movie, the plot and themes are very bone dry. All six government-imposed themes are obviously touched on at some point in this World War II propaganda film. By picking up five members of a British medical unit, the “Frenchie,� and the Sudanese soldier, multiple members of the Allied Forces are included as characters. These men discuss their ideals and attitudes on why they are fighting for their countries. Upon meeting Tambul and his Italian prisoner, Giuseppe, it is due to the American’s strong belief in “compassion� that they don’t leave the enemy to die in the desert alone. This is contrasted greatly by the ruthless German tactics later in the movie.
The German Major is used to portray multiple unethical methods used by the Axis Powers. He is first shown to be racist when he refuses to have an “inferior race� search him. He is also shown to be a liar by using a supposed language barrier as a weapon and he is demonstrated as callus because he literally stabs his ally, the Italian prisoner, in the back to escape. Giuseppe compares his views to the Germans by describing that for Italians, “only the body wears the uniform, not the soul,� showing that Germans are evil on the inside while cowardly Italians only put on a front out of fear for their families. He believes that Mussolini is not as good as Hitler because he can dress up his soldiers, but he can’t change his men. Other instances of German cruelty include, the soldier who slaps water away when it is offered and the soldier who orders his men to shoot at the French soldier when his back is still turned.
The only female character in the movie is “Lulubelle,� the tank. I found this to be important because in the beginning, Sgt. Joe Gunn refers to the tank with a slightly sexual connotation several times as if they have a relationship. The other soldiers bond over their ladies and their hometown lives, but Gunn, our iconic American hero, declares, “I’m from nowhere, just the army.�