Greece near the Albanian border, 1942: Under the Italian occupation, people watch as their towns are razed to smoke out Partisans; then they scrape through the rubble, not for keepsakes but for a burnt-out bite to eat. In this context, The Camp Followers, the English release title of this intimate yet politically charged war film, is too kind as it implies free will on the part of the Greek women recruited to be prostitutes for the Italian troops or starve along with the villagers they leave behind. An Italian lieutenant (Mario Adorf) is ordered to escort a truckful of such women and girls. He relies on military decorum to protect the humanity of his charges and mask the irony of his role, but propriety is challenged by a lusty Black Shirt officer and by constant Partisan bombardments. Anna Karina and Marie Lafôret are two very different prostitutes; one knows life (and finally death) only as the absence of hunger, the other, as absence itself. "If I forget to smile," the latter says, "it's because I'm young." Cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli and music by Mario Nascimbene both reflect the harsh, now unspeakably violated Greek landscape. (JB)