The Hill

Lots of sand but no day at the beach for its characters -- and not, from all appearances, the actors, either. Among the best of director Sidney Lumet's movies not set in New York. [08 Jun 2007, p.8E]

Rebel-with-a-cause clichés are mostly averted by sturdy acting, Oswald Morris’ vivid black-and-white cinematography, and a satisfyingly bleak conclusion.

It is a harsh, sadistic and brutal entertainment, superbly acted and made without any concessions to officialdom.

Sean Connery took a break from Bond to give a sterling performance in this awesomely intense drama set in a North African British army camp, where the favourite punishment for prisoners is to send them clambering up and down a man-made hill in the full heat of the day.

Atmospherically black-and-white photography provides suitable accompaniment to Sidney Lumet's unrelenting direction, with the two leads into it with plenty of relish.

Lumet uses every claustrophobic camera angle in the book to make the viewer feel as trapped as the characters. [04 Nov 2000, p.12]

An intense, if slightly overlong, drama. The film is well assembled, and the performances are all quite good, especially Connery and Hendry.