IN LOVE AND WAR

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

Eric Newby has been sent to Italy with a number of other British soldiers after just having disembarked from his war ship. His group is caught by Italian forces attempting to sneak across the boarder into Switzerland and are placed in a temporary holding prison more like a hotel under house arrest rather than the brink. While here he is befriended by a number of other soldiers in a similar position. Life is not terrible, although they are prevented from leaving the grounds and are locked inside the villa. Taken for daily marches, and sent boxes of rations and other treasures by the Red Cross, they await some sign of rescue.

Every day, a number of girls from the village come to the cemetery across the road to lay flowers on the graves... and be seen by the English prisoners. Among them is Wanda, an English-speaking Italian whose father is dead set against the Nazis taking over Europe. The Germans are said to be marching on Italy and Mussolini has joined forces with them. His troops have been disbanded. Knowing what will happen to the English prisoners if they remain, the commanding officer releases them with the advice that they hurry across the boarder before the Third Reich arrives. To Eric's misfortune, he badly twists his ankle and offers to remain behind rather than slow his friends down. He's given directions to a villa whose caretaker may be of help to him.

Taken into this man's home, there he meets Wanda face to face and once she has persuaded him to go to the local hospital, he pleads with her to teach him Italian. Coming to the infirmary as often as is safe, under the presumption of speech lessons the two form a tight bond. But with the infiltration of the Germans, his discovery is inevitable. His imprisonment is impending, and it will take cunning insight and courage to prevent him from being captured yet again. Even as Wanda prays for his safety, her own family lies in danger, for a close family friend has joined the Germans and her father is suspected of plotting against the Third Reich...

Moving at a measured pace, In Love & War isn't a bad film. It spends more time with the characters than actual wartime events, which suits this viewer just fine. However, there is something lacking. I don't know what it is but I didn't feel the film reached the depths of its potential. There wasn't anything horribly WRONG with it but by the ending credits, I had no interest in ever watching it again. Still, for WWII enthusiasts this would be a wise and beneficial choice. There are many films of this era which take place in Italy but none with quite so subtle of humor and few flaws. It's a movie the family could watch together without being concerned for what little eyes and ears might learn or pick up.

Content is severely limited. There is one use of 'Good Lord!' by an English Colonel in the villa prison. A man is caught trying to escape and shot fatally through the heart; briefly the impact and resulting blood is shown. Eric and Wanda passionately kiss in several scenes, but nothing more is implied between them. One of the other girls also is obviously infatuated with him and once playfully tickles him in the hay. Thematic and intense elements involve German soldiers bursting into villas, threatening people with guns, and aircrafts shooting at civilians below. But the humor makes up for the flaws... to see Eric dancing around insanely to avoid a fierce black dog or a chubby good-natured Italian soldier churning his short little legs to keep ahead of the English in their sudden sprint keeps the film light hearted. It's far from perfect and I wouldn't watch it more than once, but taken at face value In Love & War is surprisingly acceptable.