This is the kind of World War II told from the German perspective that you rarely see. The backdrop is the historic abbey at Monte Cassino in Italy as the Allies pursued the Germans to Rome. The good German is a veteran of Russia who is a member of a paratroop battalion that is dispatched to Monte Cassino. He refused to obey an order to shoot a prisoner. Meantime, the lieutenant in charge of paratroopers is your typical bad German who lusts after a pretty German nurse. Naturally, she chooses the corporal over the Lieutenant. At that point in World War II, the abbey proved to be a roadblock for the Allies on their way to Rome. Director Harald Reinl does a good job of alternating the narrative between the enlisted men and the officers. One officer fears that the priceless paintings and artwork stored in the abbey will be destroyed when the Allies commence bombing mission. He persuades the holy fathers to let him collect the art, load it into trucks, and convoy everything to the Vatican in Rome. You won't see a Nazi swastika in sight or heard any defeatist talk about the glories of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler. A movie worth watching!!!
Review of Die grünen Teufel von Monte Cassino
