Thirst On Screen 4

The Story: A British base in the desert war in North Africa is attacked by the Germans and evacuated. Battle-weary alcoholic Captain Anson, Sergeant Tom Pugh and two nurses set off across the desert for the safety of Alexandria in an Austin K2 ambulance. 

On the way they pick their way through a minefield, encounter Nazi troops, struggle through the bog of ‘The Great Depression’ and pick up a stray South African soldier (Van der Poel) who claims to have lost his unit. Anson only agrees to give Van der Poel a lift when he says he has a couple of bottles of gin to add to the supplies…. Driving, slightly sozzled on the gin, Anson tries to evade a platoon of Germans and during the chase, one of the nurses is shot and later dies.

Guilt-ridden, he vows not to touch another drop until they get to Alexandria (Alex) where he knows a good bar with ice-cold beer.  After an epic struggle across the desert – which includes having to push their ambulance up a sand dune – the thirsty crew finally reach Alexandria. And head straight for the bar!

The beers are ordered and served. The camera slowly focuses on the glass in front of Anson, luxuriating over the golden nectar inside, seeing the detail of the bubbles and the condensation on the glass – like the sweat on his sun-beaten face. He gazes lovingly at the glass. He made it. We made it! The reward is sitting right here.

He raises the glass aloft, brings it to his lips and gulps greedily. It’s an intense, iconic scene and really feels like the whole film has been building up to it. You can almost taste the crispness of the beer yourself and Anson says: “Worth waiting for!”

How to experience in KL: sit in a sandpit out in the sun, then try pushing your car up to Genting. After a few days of this, with minimal food and water, head to a bar and order yourself a Carlsberg.