Mediterraneo from Italy won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award in 1992. During World War II, an Italian platoon led by a laid-back high school teacher arrives on a small Greek island. They set up an observation post but lose touch with the outside world when their radio is broken. With all the Greek men gone off to war except the very old, the local women use their charms on the Italians. No longer intent upon promoting a new world order of Fascism, the soldiers relax in the casual atmosphere of the island.

Director Gabriele Salvatores shows how willingly men will give up the rigors of war especially when they are at odds with relaxation, camaraderie, and the delights of the flesh.