Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Contrary to other reviewers I found The Day of The Siege to be an excellent film well grounded in history. The Mouslem Turks in 1683 advanced from Constantinople to Vienna for a second attempt at unlocking the door to Western Europe. The push on Vienna led a century earlier by the intrepid Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had been repulsed.The Mouslem general The Vizier Mustafa leads a mighty horde of Turks and their allies and invests the City. True to Mouslem principles, Mustafa offers the inhabitants an opportunity to surrender peacefully. Though abandoned by the Emperor, the scratch force making up the garrison agrees to fight on.It is at this juncture that Mustafa makes the critical mistake. An ally suggests a cover force to protect the besieging forces from an attack from the North. Convinced that the terrain is too difficult, Mustafa ignores the recommendation and concentrates his forces on the siege with a great deal of initial success: The Turks break the wall. Fatefully Mustafa hesitates. Historians speculate that he wanted to swallow the city whole so that marauding Jannisaries didn't loot and destroy an important commercial center and base of operations for a further push into Germany badly divided by civil war between Christian factions.Mustafa's delay gives the Polish King Jan III just enough time to drag his canon through hostile terrain to attack the Turks and relieve the outnumbered garrison.I think the film was an excellent portrayal of Mustafa as an honorable warrior who made two strategic blunders, of Jan III who appreciated the first rule of strategy: attack where the enemy never expects to find you and of the Holy Roman Emperor who prefigured The Bush's flight on a different 9-11 when he abandoned his wife, his capital and his country to run away.

Really I would give a 5.5 since the ratings are 3.4 which is lower than it should. It's clear people want gory battles but this historical drama lacks that. Like some, I just saw it on netflix and that's where it belongs, quite an average film. Most epics are good films and few go wrong but this one falls short. Acting is average. F. Murray Abraham is overbearing as Marco D'Aviano. He just spends a bit too much time shouting. Did the real Marco D'Aviano shout? I doubt it since he was revered as a skill negotiator. Enrico Lo Verso plays Kara Mustafa which is fine since the real Mustafa was Albanian. A pleasant surprise appearance was Jerzy Skolimowski as Jan Sobieski, the King of Poland. He wrote the screenplay for Knife in the Water, a 1962 Polish gem by Roman Polanski. He also directed some unusual cult films like Moonlighting and Torrents of Spring. Personally I take a liking to his bizarre King, Queen, Knave and Adventures of Gerard (mostly due to Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale). But yes, you get the point. Day of the Siege is an Italian-Polish production that falls into a sort of cult-like realm. A more religious cult-like realm.So complaints by modern standards: No blood, special effects do look like a war video game at times, the sky never seems to be real, dialogue is stiff and formal, acting is over the top or stiff except a few moments where Lo Verso and Skoliminowski shine. Direction is very average, nothing special and predictable. The low ratings may be due to expectations that this would be a gory film about the battle. Battle choreography falls short by today's standards. Polish nationals might be disappointed that King Jan Sobieski's appearances are limited. People are not going to cheer for a monk unless it's Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose. Some of the low ratings may be due to turn- off with a religious tone. Some don't like the references to September 11 and the concept of defending the faith. So some complain about historical inaccuracy.But actually, in researching this interesting siege of Vienna, the film could focus on King Jan Sobieski but Marco D'Aviano was a real key character. Perhaps he was made too zealous in the film with a weak script and direction - how could a monk win a battle? This part of the film was a bit fictional. But in reality Marco was a key diplomat who was a skilled negotiator in bringing the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire back together against the encroaching Ottomans. The real Marco had quite high standards and even several hundred captured Turks went to him to beg for mercy knowing his skills in helping others. But in terms of filmmaking, it's not that interesting and may involve deeper character development. Another person complained that Kara Mustafa prostrated before the Sultan and in Islam, one never prostrates unless before God. Actually that is incorrect, as it is traditional to prostrate before very high rank. And it is tradition that a failed Grand Vizier is executed by strangulation by a silk cloth. So some feel it makes the Ottomans look evil or inhuman. But on the other hand, the only family we see in the movie is Kara Mustafa's. Therefore he is a central figure who has a human touch.It is an average film but below average for an epic. It lacks the excitement that a bloodier epic might have, such as Braveheart or the Last Samurai. But it is far more accurate than people suggest especially compared to most epics.The strengths of the film was as some say, soundtrack was fairly strong, costume design was good. Just a bit too glorious and shallow. Like a nice piece of cake that looks good but a bit bland.

As Vienna never fell, there should be no spoilers possible; but it does contain drama so I'll skip that.As usual, the the Ottomans want to roll up Europe like they did the formerly Christian nations of the Middle East and North Africa. Only Vienna stands in their path. They bring a huge army. Their siege is working to perfection. And yet, they fail.How? It's great to watch the movie. You might even see things that remind you of Lord of the Rings (Large army out of the East, city without a strong enough defense to survive alone, weak, decadent leaders who can't agree about what to have for lunch, and a few surprises.This is worth watching (I saw it on cable in Korea) and buying. But only if you like movies where the good guys win.

This movie show mostly charismatic Marco d'Aviano and his role during siege of Vienna and the IMDb storyline didn't talk about this movie and you need put "September Eleven 1683" to the box with all Italian catholic films. Remember you can't confront it with high budget Hollywood productions. As catholics low budget movie for catholics audience is good. Also if you know history of Poland and expect historical film about the siege of Vienna REMEMBER this is NOT a film about the great victory of Sobieski, the Polish cavalry, or about the political intrigues of European sovereigns in the 17th century.From other hand matteo-cortigiani-1 are totally right about this movie. Now if any movie has positive view of Christians(especially Catholic) must be bed. Sad but true :-(