Best movie ever!

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Blistering performances.

If you're talking about a wonderful true love story, that's fine... except Wanda is Slovenian, not Italian - get it right people, else never repeat your confusion to a Slovenian. :) Even readers of the book seem to skim over this fact: (meanwhile, read the book it's much better)"A tender and enormously inspiring little book about his experiences in Italy during World War 2, this is Eric Newby reflecting on his loss of innocence, twenty-eight years after the event. Newby would leave soldiering behind and go on to become a first-rate travel writer, a man capable of portraying passion, excitement and mystery in a calmly sophisticated prose style. In "Love and War in the Apennines" we get a mature account of his Italian exploits rather than a contemporary journal or diary. Newby makes no apologies for transforming his memories into a seemingly seamless narrative. He delivers an enriching and thrilling account of his experiences: life is experienced as a continuum, not as edited highlights, and life in the face of danger, in prison, or on the run from recapture is one long stream of conscious awareness of what might happen next day or next moment.Newby was captured after an abortive attempt to play a rather amateurish 'special forces' role and blow up German bombers on a coastal airfield in Italy. He describes himself as a failed soldier, and the lack of planning, blundering ineptitude of the exercise, and the humiliation of capture still, evidently rankled twenty years later.His captivity by the Italians would not last - Mussolini was deposed shortly after his incarceration and he was liberated before the Germans could take over his prison. There then followed a period of evading recapture, dependent on the good will and courage of the locals. The war is the backcloth against which this tale is told, but its subject is liberty, the freedom of people to maintain their humanity and their cultural integrity, and ... of course ... love.Newby fell in love with the Italian girl with whom he shared an exchange of language - she taught him Italian, he taught her English. It's a sweet, almost coy observation of the emergence of a burning love. It's also an evocation of the way of life of the people who sheltered him and the emergence of his love for the simple honesty of their peasant economy and lifestyle. This, you imagine, is where Newby learnt his compassion and his willingness to understand other people.This is a delightful commentary on war from the perspective of a man who sees nothing he does as heroic, but who sees heroism in everyone around him. It's also a useful corrective to fictional accounts of what it's like to be a prisoner of war - . A very human, humble, yet passionate work which will thoroughly entertain." - IMDb

I happened across this presentation quite by accident and was pleasantly surprised. The story, set in wartime, is sweet and romantic and made even more interesting because it is true. The young British actor who played Eric Newby really impressed me...he has leading man potential and I hope to see more of him. Tall, lanky and angular with an expressive, wide-eyed, boyish appeal, he was convincing in both the comic moments, the romantic scenes, and the tenser escape scenes. He plays a British soldier, escaped from a POW camp in Italy. His escape is hampered by a foot injury. While his injury is healing, with the help of the local villagers, he hides from the Nazis, learns some Italian phrases (these scenes were particularly amusing) and falls in love. The movie will eventually be offered by Hallmark as part of their video collection.

"In Love and War" is a simple feel-good TV-film, and should be viewed as such.(Possible spoiler)It is the story of a WWII British soldier, Newby, captured with his commando by the Italians and imprisoned in a former orphanage. As the Italians surrender to the Allies, the commando is freed, and attempts to flee. However, the Germans arrive and the commando is captured again. Only Newby, injured, remains at large. The rest of the film recounts how he is hidden and protected by the Partisans, and his survival.(End of spoiler)Based on a true story, "In Love and War" is a refreshingly straightforward film. Half comedy, half romance, the story is simple and unambiguous. The 'atmosfera' is warm and sunny, and the various stereotypes (the desperately unorganized or romantic Italians, the serious stern-looking Germans and the phlegmatic and pragmatic British), although unoriginal, are still humorous. Nicola Piovani's musical score also adds to the Mediterranean flavour.Although it is far from being a "Tea With Mussolini" or a "La Vita E Bella", "In Love and War" is a sweet simple film that will put a smile, and maybe even a little tan, on your face.

Filmed entirely in Italy, this true World War II drama about an English prisoner-of-war is superb. Everything about this film is brilliant; more importantly, it's a testament to the indomitable will of the human spirit.