In Love and War: A Film Review

“We Must Not Fall in Love Enrico.”-Wanda Skoff

This Hallmark Hall of Fame film was made in 2001 and is the love story of  Eric Newby and Wanda Skoff. Eric (Callum Blue) was a British Officer in the Special Boat Section during World War II and was captured in Fontanellato. Wanda (Barbora Bobulá)  is a Slovenian young woman who lives in Italy with her family where her father is a teacher.

Newby and his detachment were captured in Sicily in 1943 and were sent to the  PG-49 in Fontanellato, Italy, which was a Prisoner of War Camp. There were 900 other British POWs stationed here. During this time period, Newby first saw Wanda in the film, when she was with her friends as they paid a visit to the cemetery. Prisoners were not allowed to look at the girls. But you could see that the two already had connected even from a distance. The look on each other’s faces was already enough. 

When armistice arrived, the Italian Commandant in the film had announced they were free to go as the German army was approaching. As I researched this story, it was found that the Commandant actually had the fence cut and let the prisoners walk free. Newby did injure and break his ankle while trying to keep fit; although the film had him injured while being on the lookout for the German army as his comrades were preparing to leave. He traveled by mule and fell into a ditch.  There was a fellow soldier who kept a diary and noted that a doctor who was sympathetic to the allied forces helped Newby escape to be treated at the hospital.

Here at the hospital, Wanda visited Newby and began to teach him Italian so he could escape in the countryside.  It was in the gardens of the hospital that their love began to slowly blossom. During his stay at the hospital, the Germans did come across the attachment that Newby was with and discovered the diary and found where Newby was. The Italian Cabaneri were sent to guard Newby day and night. Wanda managed to get a note to Newby to escape and meet her father at a rendezvous point. Wanda and Eric or Enrico as he was then known embraced once again before he had to be dashed off. 

Newby was sent to a house where he wasn’t welcome but the owner gave him the name of Vincenzo who lived . The man didn’t want to be revealed as to who sent him because his neighbors would know and report him to the authorities. During the times of World War II, anyone harboring the enemy on both sides risked imprisonment or worse. Newby, I discovered, had to stay at more than one house. You can find more about that in a video link I will provide at the end of this review.  

In his book Love and War in the Apennines, Eric Newby changed the names of those who helped save him and protected their privacy.  Wanda’s father had been captured by the Black Shirts and questioned about Newby’s whereabouts. This was common practice for people to be taken in and questioned sometimes for more than a few days. As you can see why Newby when he wrote his novel in 1971 that he changed the names, places and even the ages of those who helped him. 

When Newby arrived at Vincenzo’s, he asked to work for his keep. The farmer allowed  him to and asked that he remove all the stones off his property and throw them over the cliff. It was tough and grueling work but Newby healed and grew stronger. He came to love the people around him and appreciate their culture as his Italian slowly improved. 

In the film, Newby had a surprise visit from Wanda and they had a brief romantic encounter. Through this  short and bittersweet encounter, Newby had voiced out his shame, how he was sorry, how he and his fellow mates thought of the Italians and had horrible names for them. He stated he learned to love their culture and was sorry that he put hers and everyone’s life in danger.  Wanda expressed she was not sorry even for something so heavy in her heart and it was a great pain that she must always carry. She was talking about her father being taken of course, but also she wanted to help Newby and she was in love with him. 

In time, Newby was discovered again and had to be moved into the mountains. He could not be kept again in someone’s home so the partisans helped build him a home. I have discovered that he lived in a cave with a fellow British officer and they lived there for several months before once again being discovered. In the film, when Wanda manages to get her father’s release thanks to a friend who interpreted the right words to the German Commandant, one of the black shirts remarked how they found an Englishmen. They will fill her father’s cell.

Wanda rushes off to warn Enrico and to escape. He decided after they hid on top of the hills, he was tired of running and wanted to keep her safe. He turned himself in and spent the rest of the war in a POW internment camp. When the war ended, he decided to return back to Fontanellato and was reunited with Wanda.

Eric and Wanda  married in 1946 and lived with one another until his death at age of 86 in 2006. Wanda died in 2015 at the age of 93. They both traveled around the world as travel writers and he was in women’s fashion. They raised two children, Jonathan and Sonia. Newby wrote several books and Wanda also wrote her own encounter of how they met entitled “Peace and War: Growing Up in Fascist Italy.” 

The film touched on many aspects of the simplicity of life in Italy, and the care everyone had for one another. The vast landscapes display the astonishing and captivating landscape I had ever seen. Just the views that Newby encounters each day from either looking out the window or over the mountains is simply breathtaking. 

The score is simple but also gives a feel of authenticity and romance. The film has both English, Italian and German interwoven so beautifully, that you do not even need subtitles to always translate the powerful emotions displayed. The casting was superb as Wanda was played by Barbora Bobulá and Eric Newby was played by Callum Blue. The supporting cast complemented each scene but did not take away from the main themes of love, camaraderie and community. It is here that the community in Fontanellato still remains strong. There was light humor because without it, life during the war would have been extra unbearable. The dramatic scenes were not over the top as this was a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, but it was not needed. This was a simple story telling of the life of two people and the community that was affected. Less is more. 

You can watch this superb film on a variety of streaming platforms or purchase the DVD. Hallmark did an excellent job in retelling this love story. 

There is the Monte San Martino Trust where it collects stories of all escapees from Italy and not all stories are published. The money collected is sent to the children in Italy, so they can come to the UK and learn the language. Many of the soldiers, including Newby,  had never forgotten the people who helped them escape and kept them safe even at their own risk. You can read more about the escapees’ stories here .

While doing more research about this incredible story, I found a youtube video of members of this Trust which included Sonia, one of Eric’s and Wanda’s children. This interview has various members giving insight to this story and further research of where Eric was and about the Italians who helped. You can find that video here which was in 2021 during the 50th celebration of the book. Here is the video for this lovely event, where they have several zoominars posted.

Other interviews that I found that you may be intrigued to read are the interviews given by Wanda and Eric from The Independent and how they met. You can also read from Travelers Tales  more stories about Eric Newby’s ordeal.