Line #33 Film/Road47


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/estrada_47.jpg]]
2
3	->''"One day, all of this will be forgotten."''
4	-->-- '''Guima'''
5
6	''Road 47'' (also known as ''The Mountain'' and ''The Lost Patrol'') is a 2015 Brazilian WWII Drama, remarkable for being the first of its kind to tell the tale of Brazilian participation in WWII, a little-known affair.
7
8	The movie centers on a small Brazilian squadron that, during the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Castello Battle of Monte Castello]], ends up panicking and abandoning its post. After regrouping, the squadron realizes that if they come back, they will face trial for desertion and be expelled from the army or executed. Their salvation lies in the titular [[TitleDrop Road 47]], a road crucial to Allied transport that is completely covered by mines. And thus, in an attempt to save themselves from a desertion charge, the group decides to undertake the SuicideMission of going behind enemy lines in the unforgiving Italian winter to clear the road and allow the Allied forces clear passage and use the action as an excuse to justify them leaving their posts. On the way, they meet an Italian who recently deserted from a Nazi auxilliary unit (portrayed by Sergio Rubini) and a war weary German commander (portrayed by Creator/RichardSammel).
9
10	The movie centers on character drama and exploration rather than action, and it's quite a downbeat war film about the cost of war, violence and the loss of lives.
11	----
12	!!Tropes:
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14	* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Inverted. The movie is a quiet drama for the most part, but there's one action scene near the middle showing a German group fighting the squadron.
15	* AllGermansAreNazis: Averted. Colonel Jurgen Mayer (A Wehrmacht officer) is a highly sympathetic character, and never displays any Nazi beliefs.
16	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Averted. Laurindo makes it out alive]].
17	* BittersweetEnding: The movie ends [[spoiler: with the Road successfully cleared and the Brazilians survive, but Colonel Jurgen is dead, the Brazilians don't get any recognition for their heroism, Rui loses his camera and the war is far from over.]]
18	* BombDisposal: The function of the Brazilian squadron.
19	* ButtMonkey: Piauí is always on the receiving end of the suffering.
20	* CloudCuckooLander: Piauí is clearly a bit batty. He sings loudly, goes off in strange tangents, and often wanders aimlessly for no reason. It's highly implied he's suffering from PTSD.
21	* CommunicationsOfficer: Laurindo, the group communications specialist.
22	* DangerousDeserter: The protagonists undertake their mission to avoid being seen as this. Giovanni and Jurgen could also qualify.
23	* DefectorFromDecadence: Jurgen (a German defector) and Giovanni (an Italian defector) both defect from their Fascist armies.
24	* DemolitionsExpert: The squad's job is defusing mines, so they all count, but specifically Guima is their explosives expert.
25	* DudeWheresMyRespect: Lt. Penha has to remind everyone he's their superior officer and they should call him "Lieuteanant" instead of "Penha".
26	* DuringTheWar: Italian winter, late 1944.
27	* {{Eagleland}}: American forces are secondary players in the film and while they're not malicious at all, [[spoiler:they end up inadvertently stealing all the glory from the Brazilian squadron for themselves and crushing Rui's camera,]] leaving them looking pretty bad in the grand scheme of things.
28	* EarAche: One of Guima's ear drums is busted early in the film and he spends a while with his ear bleeding.
29	* FatalFamilyPhoto: Played with. [[spoiler:Both Jurgen and Laurindo show their family pictures, but only Jurgen dies. Laurindo survives without a scratch.]]
30	* FireForgedFriends: Jurgen (A German officer) and Piauí (a Brazilian ShellShockedVeteran) end up becoming friends. [[spoiler: which is all the more tragic when Jurgen dies]].
31	* HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath: The squadron suffers one when winter nearly kills them late in the movie.
32	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Meta-wise. This is the first movie to show the always overlooked Brazilian perspective of WWII.
33	* IntrepidReporter: Rui, a reporter who decides to accompany the mission and record the entire thing.
34	* LandMineGoesClick: It ''is'' a movie about clearing bombs after all. Though curiously, they do not go click, and they seem to go off with no noise whatsoever.
35	* LaResistance: The Italian Partisan movement heavily features in the film. While they're heroic characters, the movie also displays their less-than-charitable sides, like the summary execution of German prisoners.
36	* NoAntagonist: For the most part. Jurgen is an antagonist early on, but for the most part, the film's antagonists are minefields, unforgiving winter and the character's own demons.
37	* PluckyComicRelief: Piauí is the source of jokes and amusing moments.
38	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Squadron is composed of several figures from varied backgrounds who evidently don't get along well, plus an Italian deserter, a German deserter and a Brazilian reporter.
39	* RedemptionQuest: A more pragmatic one. To avoid facing charges of desertion after a panicked retreat from their post, the squadron decides to clear the Road 47 as to justify their retreat and avoid being summarily expelled. Along the way several characters end up going on an ''actual'' redemption quest.
40	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Giovanni the partisan abandons the group when they refuse to execute Col. Jurgen.
41	* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: Rui spends the entire film accompanying the squadron to take pictures and register their tale. Near the end his camera is destroyed, thus rendering his efforts null and void.]]
42	* ShellShockedVeteran: Everyone. With the exception of Rui, the film's IntrepidReporter, all the characters show clear signs of PTSD. Most evident with Piauí, who has a panic attack in the beginning of the film, and Guima, who spends the entire movie about to lose his mind.
43	* ShellShockSilence: When Guima's ear drum bursts. Occasionally the movie will display shades of it when it wants to clarify Guima's ear is still busted.
44	* SnowMeansDeath: The Italian winter is their toughest opponent, and what nearly kills the entire squad.
45	* SteelEarDrums: Averted. An explosion early in the movie clearly completely bursts one of Guima's ear drums, leaving him half-deaf for the entire movie (and likely the rest of his life).
46	* SuicideMission: The engineer squadron has to go inside enemy territory in the dead of winter and deactivate a minefield, with no reinforcements whatsoever. [[spoiler:They pull it off]].
47	* SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder: The squadron are bottom-of-the-barrel soldiers, ill-trained and ill-prepared for this, but where an American regiment failed, they must succeed. [[spoiler:And they do succeed, clearing Road 47]].
48	* ThousandYardStare: Guima has one, but Colonel Jurgen the Wehrmacht officer stands unmatched in this regard.
49	* TokenEnemyMinority: Col. Jurgen, the German deserter.
50	* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: Deliberately. Early in the film they realize they have two options: A) Go back to their superiors and face charges of desertion B) Clear Road 47 (behind enemy lines) or die in the process. They choose B and for the remainder of the movie are pretty much in a life-or-death scenario (either clear the road or be killed by Germans).
51	* VitriolicBestBuds: Laurindo and Piauí are always at each other's throats, but it's quite clear they still care about one another.
52	* WarIsHell: The prime message of the movie. All the characters are damaged and worn out by the war.
53	* WasItReallyWorthIt: Guima wonders this in the end. [[spoiler:He comes to the conclusion that yes, it was, for saving the Italians from the clutches of the Nazi Army]].

Context Film / Road47