It's Victory in Europe for the Allies, particularly Canadian captain Richard Johnson. He's in charge of the POW camp where Colonel Helmut Schneider is the ranking German prisoner. Given Schenider's insistence on discipline among his troops and his always wanting to discuss things with Johnson, at times it's hard to tell who's actually in command. Especially when two men show up who deserted from the Wehrmacht.
Giuliano Montaldo's movie can be viewed as a gloss on THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, but shocking to my eyes to see the tables turned. Schneider gives none of the crazy energy that Alex Guinness offered in his equivalent role Instead, we get a general view of the military officer's mind, in which they are all about their world. Indeed, Michael Goodliffe, as Johnson's superior, has a monologue about how the war belongs to the army.... and the peace too. With Franco Nero, T. P. McKenna, and Bud Spencer.