Mediterraneo

In 1941, one year after Italy joined Germany against the Allies in World War II, a small group of misfit Italian soldiers is sent to Megisti, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea, for four months of lookout duty. The soldiers include a lieutenant who likes art, a macho sergeant, a ski instructor accompanied by his beloved donkey Silvana, and other quirky people. They are not very good soldiers, but a cross-section of average, independent men. The catchphrase "One face, one race" occurs throughout the story. Expecting an attack, the soldiers take many inept precautions. They find a small town with no people. That night, they see bombing on the horizon, and, by radio interception, discover that the ship that was intended to pick them up has been destroyed. Mysteriously, people reappear in the village; the villagers say they hid because the Germans had taken all the men, but having seen that the Italians are harmless, they have decided to return to their normal lives. It's not long before everyone's sunny nature appears. The Italian soldiers, unacquainted with a war they clearly do not sense as theirs, are absorbed into the life, heat, and landscape of the idyllic island. The local Orthodox priest befriends the lieutenant, an amateur painter, and asks him to restore the murals in his church. Meanwhile, two soldiers, who are brothers, befriend a young woman who is a shepherdess. They eventually consummate their friendship with the shepherdess, who in turn loves them equally. Sergeant Lo Russo, the only member of the crew with a fiery spirit for war, takes up folk dancing and begins to reflect on his place in the universe. Meanwhile, the shyest soldier, Farina, falls in love with the island's prostitute named Vasilissa. The two get married and remain on the island to pursue Vasilissa's dream of opening a restaurant. The rest of the group returns to Italy. In their old age, three of the men are reunited on the island after visiting the tomb of Vasilissa, who had died.

Plot from MediterraneoCC BY-SA 4.0