The Lost Patrol

Due to unforeseen circumstances, screenings of The Lost Patrol on June 7 and 9 have been canceled due to print shipping delays. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Ticket holders will receive an automatic refund within 3-5 business days.

1859. During the so-called Second War of Independence, the Kingdom of Piedmont (the future Kingdom of Italy), with France’s help, attempts to wrest Lombardy from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A small patrol of soldiers advances between Lombardy and Piedmont, becoming increasingly isolated. This small independent film, the first realized by producer Franco Cristaldi—who would later become highly successful (Amarcord, Cinema Paradiso)—was shot in the same year as Senso and depicts the Risorgimento from the perspective of ordinary soldiers in an anti-heroic manner, focusing on their daily hardships, with a symbolic yet concrete use of the landscape. Although set in the past, the influence of neorealism is evident (all the actors are non-professionals), and the war against Austria is perhaps a metaphor for the war waged by the partisans and the Allies against the Nazi-Fascists (some scenes are very similar to the final episode of Paisan). After the film’s failure, director Piero Nelli did not make another feature-length fiction film. Copy from the CSC-Cineteca Nazionale.