Mediterraneo

IN TIME LIKE THESE ESCAPE IS THE ONLY WAY TO STAY ALIVE...

AND TO CONTINUE DREAMING.

MEDITERRANEO

They send us on a mission on Mighisti, a lost Aegean isle...

the smallest and most distant one. lts strategic importance was zero.

Our orders were to observe and make contact.

We were to occupy and report. The men assigned to me came from...

here and there. Survivors from lost battles...

men from disbanded regiments.

A platoon ofmisfits like myself, who had happened to survive.

Eliseo Strazzabosco, the mule-driver was a strange guy.

He'd spent the whole war with his Silvana. He'd brought her from home.

He loved herlike a person. Maybe even more.

Hey, Strazzabosco! Sweet grapes, eh?

A honeymoon in the Aegean. I think tonight...

Pretend you didn't hear. Don't give them the satisfaction.

There were the Munaron brothers, Libero and Felice.

Two mountain boys who had never seen the sea.

And there were Lo Russo and Colasanti.

You got anything to drink?

Lo Russo ha reached de rank of Sergeant Majorin the African Campaign.

What might he have become by the war's end? Colasanti, the signalman...

Lived in Lo Russo's shadow practically in symbiosis. Then there was Corrado...

Noventa, the deserter.

He'd already escaped a few times, trying to get home.

His wife was pregnant. Last time they caught him...

between Albania and Yugoslavia, trying to walk home to ltaly.

My attendant, Antonio Farina, was very devoted to me...

always ready for orders, at times even anticipating my thoughts.

-How much Ionger, Lieutenant? -Not much.

-Will there be shooting? -Let's hope not.

We were all at the age where one hasn't decided whether...

to start a family or lose oneself in the world.

Lieutenant, how Iong do we have to stay here?

Four months.

Damn!

Silvana, don't make a fuss.

Don't make me look bad to the Sergeant. Calm down, relax!

Munaron!

Give me the radio!

Watch out for the radio!

Lieutenant, do we wear the gas masks now?

-Nonsense! -Why'd we bring all this stuff?

Lieutenant, what's written there?

-Greece is the tomb "ton ltallon". -What does "ton ltallon" mean?

All right, men. We'll all advance very quietly inland.

Keep your eyes open. Strazza, at the rear. Colasanti, in the middle to...

make sure the radio is safe. Once on top, we'll establish a base. Understood?

Yes, but what does "ton ltallon" mean?

"Of ltalians."

-What? -"Greece is the tomb of ltalians."

There's nobody here.

-Your head's burning. You're hot, eh? -Hell!

No objections? I'll go in.

This time we agree?

Not a fucking soul! There's nobody in this town.

Are you crazy?

Didn't you see me? I'm Farina. Excuse-me! You almost killed me!

-We heard a shot, so we fired. -Who the hell fired?

-Farina did, Lieutenant! -We saw him fire.

-He shot, so we fired. -Wait! Lieutenant, I saw the hoIe thing.

Farina got attacked by a chicken and reacted. The men, taken by surprise...

thought we were being attacked by Greek chickens.

Let's not kid around. You could have killed him!

-It was no big Ioss... -Stop joking.

I was onIy joking. I meant better a dead chicken than...

It was just to keep up the morale of the troops. You're a bunch of idiots!

One doesn't smoke on guard duty.

Fuck off, Strazzabosco!

If they spot your cigarette, they can shoot you in the forehead.

What are you smoking?

Milit.

Give me a drag.

I gave you a scare, huh?

-What's happening? -Did you hear? Look!

Alarm!

-Who the hell yelled? -Farina gave the alarm.

Look there.

We're kicking their asses, eh?

Lieutenant, our side is really beating them!

Lieutenant, I hear something but it's mostly static.

Here, Lieutenant.

-What do they say? -Wait.

What about our man? Where are they?

Wait, I don't understand.

-It's the British. -They're speaking English.

Lieutenant, tell us, too.

-What about us? -I don' know!

You don't know!

-What'll do know? -Boy, I don't know.

I understand.

Everyone in position! Maximum alert! Stay alert and don't move. The Brits...

could land any minute. Understood?

Stop, who's there?

It's me, Lo Russo.

-Password. -It's me, I said.

-ldentify yourself. Password? -I told you, it's me, Lo Russo.

The password, or we shoot.

AII right...

"Savoy or death".

O.K., Sergeant, you may come closer.

O.K., my ass! Counter password?

"Memento audere semper."

No, you're wrong.

-"Lightning! -No!

-That's was yesterday's password. -"Pizza Margherita!"

Sure! "Four Seasons"!

-It's "Queen Margherita"! -Yes, it's "Queen Margherita".

We're supposed to conquer Greece with these four idiots?!

Tomorrow I'll turn you all in. Understood?

-Go take a chit! -Who said that?

Who? Come on out! Bastards!

I know that one. I recognized him. Ass-face!

It wasn't me!

It wasn't me!

"It wasn't me!" Two days' punishment for all and four days for ass-face!

Quiet!

The British, I feeI it.

Who goes there? The password!

Identify yourseIf, or I shoot.

Lieutenant, if it's you, say so.

No! Don't shoot!

Don't shoot.

Silvana!

My Silvana.

It was SiIvana, boys, but...

But I gave you specific orders...

-You said to shoot, and we obeyed. -No. I said, "Stop, who goes there?"

"ldentify yourself or I'll shoot."

Lieutenant, I said, "ldentify yourself or I'll shoot." These guys fired.

Strazza, it wasn't our fault.

Bastards!

-Easy! -Bastards!

This morning the chickens, now the donkey! How will we carry the stuff?

-The radio! -Shit! My radio!

-Broken? -I don't know.

-Can it be fixed? -I don't know.

-Why don't you know? -I said I don't know.

It was our most important equipment! To be kept in top working condition!

We depended on it, and then that cretin of a mountain man broke it!

Don't yell. Blaming him won't help now. Stay calm.

Calm, my ass! Stay calm, my ass! We're cut off from the war!

How do we communicate now? With smoke signals?

My Silvana...

There's nothing.

O.K. boys, you'll stay here. For observation and liaison.

When you see a ship, send up the signaI fIares. Toward us, not them.

In two, three days I'll send another shift.

Don't worry about us. We're not too familiar with the sea.

If the relief shift isn't obligatory, we'll stay here.

We'll come get our supplies.

-Suit yourselves. -Thank you, Lieutenant.

Lieutenant, one second.

Munaron.

The mission is now documented.

See you.

ITALY, I THINK AND DREAM OF YOU.

Good morning, Lieutenant.

-Good morning, Lieutenant. -Good morning.

Some island!

-An island of ghosts. There's nobody here. -The radio?...

-Any news? -I've reassembled it. It won't work.

I'm worried about the man because nothing's happening...

and especially Strazzabosco. He's always by himself, withdrawn...

and now his Silvana's dead...

So let's invent something to boost their morale.

We could have them dig a nice trench.

-What for? -Nothing. They'll dig it and cover it up.

-They'll get demoralized. -Let's mount a simulated attack.

-In this heat? -Then what can I do to...

-keep up their spirits? -Listen, Lo Russo, think of something.

Now excuse me. I have to update the miIitary diary.

I didn't realize...

-Farina, are you married? -No.

-Engaged? -No.

-Is anyone back home waiting for you? -My foIks died when I was IittIe.

I never knew them.

It's nice here, right?

Well...

This may seem Iike an arid pIace, a pIace for sheep...

but here, 2,500 years ago, before Rome, there was a beautifuI civiIization.

There were poets, philosophers, warriors, goddesses.

We're all their descendants. Even you can find your origins here. You understand?

Do you Iike poetry?

It depends.

Look... these were written seven centuries before Christ.

You know how to read?

-Not in Greek. -Each poem is translated.

The mountain peaks sleep, along with the valleys, cliffs and gorges...

and creatures of the brown earth...

Wake up! They've landed! I saw them! They're here!

Lieutenant, wake up!

-What happened, Sergeant? -Where did they Iand?

-They're everywhere! Many of them! -The British?

No! I tried catching one, but they disappeared.

-Who are they? -Children.

Strange, isn't it? There are no men.

-Just old men and children. -It's fishy.

-It couId be an ambush. -I remember simiIar situation in Spain.

-Sure, sure! -Not again!