Mediterraneo

I was awake at 3:00AM with insomnia the first time I saw this film. When the English subtitles appeared, I thought, "I don't want to read a movie, I want to watch one." A few minutes later, I was hooked. Now, I own a copy and watch it every few months. It's a story about a group of men, in soldiers uniforms, sent to a Greek Island of no significance, who are forgotten about and left for years. They adapt as humans do when placed in a different environment. Because they are Italian, they do it as only Italians can, with simplicity and grace. I'm glad to have it my video collection.

An outstanding movie. The film flows like water, masterfully directed.Watching this film was enjoyable and it seems like an escape from reality.In them we can identify our desires and our feelings. Escape from the world of war. Shows how little is enough to be happy. Luzers in the war are actually winners and lucky people. People who would kill other peoples yesterday, show us real face, ordinary people with same wishes like ours. This movie proof that is not necessary to spend millions of $ to make great movie. For me personally it is a pleasure to watch this movie any time, sometime I feel that I would like to find similar place today to escape from our modern, hectic life. All in all, great movie, I wouldn't change anything.

A squad of Italian soldiers arrives to occupy a remote Greek island during WW2, but soon goes native as the immediacy of the war slowly recedes from their island paradise. I enjoyed this film immensely. I hope this is only available in the original Italian with subtitles. The dialog among the soldiers is so quintessentially Italian and funny, that a dubbed version would lose almost everything in translation. The locations are terrific, the plot development is subtle but never boring, and it's a joy to watch a film that encourages you to lean forward and savor it, rather than one that pins you in your seat with technology and effects.

Honestly I don't know how this movie could have been translated into English or other languages, since I'm referring to the original, Italian, version of it. I never expected any American so-called critic to full understand what European, and specifically southern-European movies can be about, since we never based the quality of a movie on the amount of car chases, shooting, explosions, well polished (but fake) dialogues and so on. Our cinema is far less shiny but more down-to-Earth. The director, through the words of the character of Lt. Farina, in the very beginning of the movie starts telling a story, which could have been truly happened that way. Why? Because in Italian movies actors act like normal everyday people is. So it appears pretty credible what happened in the movie, between acts of humanity, friendship, inner struggles. Of Course there are typical elements of Italian culture throughout the plot, as the soccer matches, the highly informal language, the warm friendship, and of course to whom is totally unaware of Italian culture, these can appear as childish and pretty silly. But if you look deeply into that, if you leave all prejudices aside, you will discover a beautiful postcard which paints a wonderful small Greek island, in which Italian and Greek people (re)discover their common cultural origins. With the WW2 as background (but there are no fights at all). All in all, reading about American reviews about this movie, in which the writers looked at this movie with a smile of superiority, it reminded me about the part in which the two British sailors came to rescue the marooned soldiers, point at them with a sort of disgust and justify their feelings with: "Italians".

I think IMDb explains the plot best: An Italian ship leaves a handful of soldiers in a little island; their mission is to spot enemy ships and to hold the island in case of attack. The village of the island seems abandoned and there isn't a single enemy in sight, so the soldiers begin to relax a little. Actually, the island isn't deserted and when the Greeks understand that those Italians are harmless, they came out of their hiding places in the mountains and continue their peaceful lives. Soon the soldiers discover that being left behind in a God-forgotten Greek island isn't such a bad thing, after all...

The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign film in 1991 and I'm pretty sure this wasn't the best foreign film of that year, but I can understand why it won. The film captures something I think many people can relate to or understand...escape. These soldiers find an escape from the war. Which is something anybody who has been in a war can relate to. And, the film also captures the freedom these men have. For the moment they're at the island they can also escape from their everyday responsibilities and do what they like best. That's something most people want. For instance, the lieutenant enjoys painting and at the island he gets the opportunity to paint the church. Instead of fighting a war or worrying about how to pay the bills he is doing what he enjoys best, painting. The film may not be the best foreign film of 1991, but it is a very warm-hearted film that you will enjoy.

3 (***) out of (****)