The eight members of the squad get along well with the islanders. The leader of the squad is the lieutenant, who helped repair the murals in the church on the island; when the sergeant was acting as the leader, he met Vasha Siri, a prostitute who was soliciting. A deserter, he always wants to go home; there are two brothers, who are on duty on the mountain with a shepherd; a signal soldier; and a hillbilly who likes donkeys.
Antonio is an orderly. He was arranged by the sergeant to be the last to sleep with Vasha Siri. When it was his first turn, Vasha was so tired that she fell asleep. He went in gently, covered her with the quilt, and backed out.
For a group of soldiers who have lost contact with their troops, the island is like paradise. The enemy is far away, with no orders and no mission, so that they gradually forget their mission. The only trouble might be that the crafty Turks stole their outfits, including weapons. However, it doesn't matter to them whether they have weapons or not.
Antonio didn't want to sleep with Vasha. Vasha was curious. He said that he was still a virgin and wanted to leave the first time to true love.
Life in paradise is so easy and comfortable that even the clock seems to stand still. The brothers lingered with the shepherdess, as in the Garden of Eden; the hillbilly hooked up with a young woman; the sergeant organized the soldiers to play football with the islanders, and sang and danced with the islanders. They don't know what's going on outside.
Every time it was his turn to be with Vasha, Antonio just chatted with her. Until one day, Vasha said, she had experienced a lot of men, but soon no longer remembered what they looked like. After Antonio leaves, I am afraid that he will soon be like him. Antonio said sadly, I remember you, I will always remember you. Vasha was a little surprised, but still asked him carefully: do you want to do it now? They hugged.
Lieutenants, sergeants and other soldiers drink and chat with the islanders by the sea. Before they arrived on this small island, German soldiers had arrived in advance and captured all the strong men on the island. Therefore, some old people or teenagers are drinking and chatting with them. Just when it was so calm, gunshots rang out on the island. The lieutenant ran to see, the signalman was scratched by a bullet, and Antonio refused anyone to approach the blue house, where Vasha had picked up the guest.
The lieutenant came too. What the hell is going on? Antonio and Vasha have been lingering for too long, and it's the signal trooper's turn. So he knocked hard on the door. Antonio shot him from the window and pushed him back. Antonio is just crazy. The comrades really don't understand what's going on. The lieutenant asked what happened to Antonio, who was standing by the window with a gun. Being a prostitute would not threaten his comrades. He said that no one can touch Vasha from now on, because he fell in love with Vasha. Vasha also expressed her love for the lad. The lieutenant shrugged, no one could stop the love, he wanted to go back to see if the watercolors were dry.
Antonio once asked Vassa why she was a prostitute? How to come to this remote island. Vasha told him that her mother, grandmother, and sister were all prostitutes, so it was logical for her to become a prostitute herself. Earlier she had served German soldiers in Athens, and the German soldiers came to the island and brought her; they left her behind.
The squad is now fully integrated with the islanders, who have no prime-aged men. And three years have passed without knowing it. From a pilot who crash-landed due to a malfunction, they learned that the situation in Italy had changed dramatically. Mussolini was overthrown, Anglo-American forces had taken southern Italy, and the National Liberation Front was active. They were shocked to learn that the British were now allies. At the same time, they also know that the days of the island paradise are coming to an end.
Sure enough, not long afterward, the British team brought back the strong men on the island captured by Germany, and was also ordered to take them back. The British soldiers in brand-new, snow-white uniforms could not believe that the men in civilian clothes who were no different from the islanders were the Italian soldiers who were going to be taken back. Although reluctant to part, go back or go back. According to the sergeant, it is time to go back and build a great motherland.
Before leaving, I counted and counted, and Antonio was missing. The sergeant knew where he was. So go back to Vasha's blue house to find it. As a result, Antonio was found curled up in an abandoned toilet in the cellar. He didn't want to go back, he was an orphan and was happy on the island; he got married on the island; he wanted to help Vasha open a restaurant. The sergeant could not convince the orderly to go back and rebuild great Italy. Angrily left.
This is the plot of the film "Mediterranean", which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film more than 10 years ago. The soldiers in the squad were not alone in having an affair with the women on the island. As they left, a few details were interesting. One is the hillbilly hugging and kissing the young woman reluctantly, and the husband of the young woman returning home just happened to follow, and they looked sideways, followed by the long-lost husband and the young woman hugging and kissing. Another detail is the brothers standing on the hill and waving goodbye to the shepherdess, who is holding the pregnant belly of Liujia. Only Antonio remained. He fell in love with a prostitute.
In the film, according to Antonio, he is an orphan who has never had a relationship with a woman; Vasha is a "born prostitute" from a family of prostitutes. From the beginning, they were not a transactional relationship, a lonely orphan-turned man, a helpless prostitute who couldn't resist the fate. The same expectations and longings in their hearts allow them to be attracted to each other - not just driven by lust. So no matter the country bumpkin or the two brothers, they can wave goodbye to the woman they have been lingering with without turning back, and really "don't take away a cloud". And Antonio can't go, he'd rather commit himself to the toilet and stay.
The ending is happy. Decades later, the old lieutenant returns to the island that has been turned into a tourist destination. Antonio's love, Vasha, has passed away, and the restaurant named Vasha Siri is still booming. Antonio found his happiness on this remote island in the Mediterranean.
There is a line of subtitles at the end of the film: Dedicated to all those who are running away.
Yeah, what are we all running away from?
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