The Camp Followers

In 1942, Lieutenant Martino, disheartened by famine in Athens, requests a new posting. He is assigned to lead a lorry carrying twelve prostitutes to various military establishments, along with Sergeant Castagnoli. A Major Alessi joins as a passenger, an overbearing officer who can impose his will on them all.

On the road, the group finds a temporary respite in abandoned railway carriages. The men pair off with their charges: Castagnoli with Ebe, Martino admires Eftichia, and Elenitza seeks no trouble. The arrangement underscores the tension and compulsory nature of the mission.

The next morning a lorry of Blackshirts passes and their leader requests one of the girls. A few kilometers later they discover the Blackshirts' remains, their lorry, and the prostitute killed by Partisans. Alessi erupts in fury and swears vengeance for the massacre.

Shortly after, their own lorry is ambushed and goes off the road in flames. The survivors scramble to rescue the wounded and abandon the vehicle. The event marks a turning point as the convoy's morale collapses.

The wounded are carried to an abandoned cottage where tension runs high. Alessi announces he will go fetch help, while Castagnoli, sensing an escape, stops him at gunpoint. The fragile order within the group begins to fray.

Elenitza succumbs to her wounds during the tense moment at the cottage. In front of everyone, Alessi shoots her dead, demonstrating the brutal ruthlessness that governs the group. The shock deepens the group’s despair.

After dark, the survivors, with Castagnoli carried, stagger across the mountains toward a village. They encounter a Blackshirt-burning scene as the village is emptied and burned under the unit’s presence. Alessi aligns with the Blackshirts and they shoot several captured alleged partisans.

Martino ferries Castagnoli to a military hospital, where Ebe ensures his comfort and takes charge of his care. The remaining prostitutes are left behind or moved to safer shelter as the convoy fragments. This marks the shift from pursuit of a mission to grappling with the aftermath.

Eftichia, who had earlier resisted intimacy with Italians, makes one last exception for Martino. After spending a night with him, she walks away into the mountains to join the partisans. Her decision embodies the film's themes of loyalty, survival, and disillusionment.

Left on his own after the others drift away, Martino faces a renewed sense of purposelessness. The war context persists outside the frame, but his personal mission has dissolved into disillusionment. He continues without clear direction, reflecting the film's bleak ending.

The group’s actions near the burning village reveal the brutality that has overshadowed their trek. Alessi's allegiance with the Blackshirts culminates in the execution of alleged partisans, underscoring the collapse of moral boundaries. The film closes on a note of grim consequence rather than victory.

In the aftermath, Martino is able to deliver the few prostitutes who remain to shelter or safety, though the mission's purpose has become a hollow shell. The survivors' fate is framed by a war that consumes their humanity, leaving Martino more disillusioned than ever.