Mediterraneo

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.

Italian cinematography always had interesting and beside all great movies. "Mediterraneo" is definitely one of them with strong antiwar message. A movie that Americans cannot make cause they haven't experienced wars like the ones that were led on European ground.

Story starts when Italian ship leaves a handful of soldiers in a little Greek island during World War II. Italian soldiers must hold that island by any cost. Island seems to be deserted and when their sheep gets destroyed by enemies, soldiers must find a way to live on that island. Soon they found out that the island is not deserted when Greeks came out of their hiding places in the mountains. All of the inhabitants are women, children and old men, so soldiers began to relax and finally live their lives.

Gabriele Salvatores made a movie situated during a war without any war scene, presenting the Greek island as heaven on Earth for those untypical soldiers. All of them have their dreams and desires, but as time pasts by, only one soldier always tries to leave at all cost (he wants to come home to his wife). Antonio Farina falls in love with prostitute Vassilissa (gorgeus Vanna Barba) and they even stopped counting days on that island, so they don't know what is happening in the war or in outside world. This island present oasis, imaginary world where everyone is happy. Like some sort of utopia.

So from the first to last scene Salvatores directs this movie with no mistakes, cause he had great scenario, actors and he found beautiful location in Greece. I specially liked Diego Abatantuono in role of Nicola Lorusso, but I must also mention Claudio Bigagli and Giuseppe Cederna. Every single person who worked on this drama with elements of comedy created a movie that we all can watch whenever we want to escape from to real world. But is there a place like this on Earth? Yes, I think there are plenty of places like this, but we have to look for them cause nothing good comes easy.

"Mediterraneo", which we saw during its debut run locally, has stayed fresh as when we first saw it. This small, endearing film has a lot going for it. In fact, it makes a perfect statement against WWII, or any war, for that matter, without being in one's face. The subtlety of this film stays long in the viewer's mind.

We are presented a group of Italian soldiers on a mission to set a base in a small, and apparently uninhabited island in the Aegean Sea, not too far from Italy, but millions of years away in the way it has stayed primitive enough to offer anything to these men. As soldiers, under the command of Raffaelle, these are not the typical professional soldiers. In fact, these men discover themselves and a world they didn't know existed during their time in the island.

What surprises the soldiers is not to encounter anyone living in the village facing the sea, where they disembark. It becomes clear everyone is hiding from them. When the populace discover these men are harmless they return and embrace the invaders with open arms. After all, they feel the Italians share a lot in common with them.

The men, obviously abandoned, and lacking means of transportation, get stuck in the island. In fact, they don't realize, but when the Italian aviator arrives in his one engine plane, he is amazed how many years have passed since they arrived at that remote spot.

This small film is a delight to watch. Diego Abatantuono makes a great Lorusso. Claudio Bigati, is Raffaele, the man with an artistic eye, who sees the beauty of the classical Greek design. Vanna Barba plays Vassilessa, the local whore who falls in love with the shy Farina(Giuseppe Cederna). The rest of the cast does a good job under Mr. Salvatores' direction.

Watch this film as it will delight fans of Mr. Salvatores and the Italian cinema.

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.

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.