Mediterraneo is an Italian film that won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Directed by Gabriele Salvatores, it has a very 90's aesthetic and feel to it, but is brilliant nonetheless. There were some beautiful framing devices employed while shooting the architecture and landscape scenes, and there was created an atmosphere of calm and tranquility to the fictional island. Certainly a film worth watching if you haven't already.
'[It] is a glorious celebration of life and love in a time of war. Eight Italian soldiers are left to defend a small, seemingly deserted island in the Mediterranean Sea in the name of Mussolini and fascism. Shortly after their transport ship is destroyed, the disconsolate group manages to kill their donkey, shoot some chickens, and demolish their shortwave radio. Only then, convinced that the soldiers are no threat, do the island inhabitants emerge from their mountain hideout and resume their quiet lives. Slowly persuaded that the war has forgotten them, the Italians begin to assimilate into the peaceful community, finding love and laughter in a heaven on earth.'
