Product Details

• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000AEY6L0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,151 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful comedy, August 14, 2006

By 

Andreas Gregoriades (Cyprus) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mediterraneo [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] (DVD)

A beautiful, clever comedy which plays on the nature of both Greeks and Italians in a rather unbelievable story as far as the total isolation of a platoon of Italian soldiers on a Greek island for the entire duration of the world war II.

But the beauty of the comedy is based on this very isolation and the way these soldiers became part of the community on the island, which was deprived of the men who were taken prisoners by the Germans or were away fighting the war.

The humor is intensive, logical and tangible and the conversations brilliant especially in the original languages.

The English translation is good but can never represent the tone and the special expressions of the original language.

For those who know the character of both Greeks and Italians this film will be considered wonderful and worth seeing it more than once.

The comedy is not an effort to make the evils of the war appearing unimportant but an appreciation that soldiers on both sides of a conflict have a lot in common rather than differences.

For those who have memories of the sad years of the war, this film might simply strengthen the view that both occupying forces in Greece, that of the Germans and that of the Italians were objected and rejected in every possible way but at the same time recognizing that among the two evils, the Italians were considered more reasonable and closer to the Greek mentality and way of life.

The photography is excelled.

The direction of Gabrielle Salvatores at its best

No wonder that this firm was awarded the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language film

2.0 out of 5 stars Wishful thinking travelog, March 5, 2006

By 

Trevor Willsmer (London, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mediterraneo [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] (DVD)

Some films are so slight a gentle breeze would blow them away, but Mediterraneo doesn't even need the breeze. Pure wishful thinking travelog, this far from believable piece of whimsy sees a forgotten group of Italian soldiers on a remote Aegean island taken to the hearts of the beautifully photographed locals in the beautifully photographed town, who love the loveable beautifully photographed Italians so much that when a Turk steals their rifles, the happily lend them their own. Even ignoring the sheer dishonesty of the film and its `one face, one race' credo (try asking Greeks who lived under Italian occupation how much they `loved' their invaders - it's like asking Jews what they loved about Hitler), there's just nothing there but nice scenery nicely photographed. Had there been some hint or reality or the horrors of war in the film for the characters to escape from, it might just have worked, but it's relentlessly bland it makes a timeshare presentation look convincing. 1991 must have been a particularly bad year for World Cinema for this to pick up the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great movie, October 17, 2008

By 

William A. Wright "friscobilly" (lakebay, washington United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mediterraneo [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] (DVD)

I have a widescreen tape version that I copied from a laser disk in the early 90's. I can not understand why it's not out on a region 1 dvd since so much junk is. This is one of my all time favorite movies. I liked every thing about it, the photography, the story, the actors, and even the ending when the old soldiers return and reminisce. All in all a movie just for the enjoyment.