Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Accompanied by pensive serenades from the captain's cherished mandolin, the film charts the unlikely attraction of Corelli and Pelagia, whose wizened physician father (splendidly played by John Hurt) fears for the worst. Their love is uneasy (and Cage's miscasting doesn't help), but the island's beguiling atmosphere is as seductive to them as it is to the viewer, thus making the outbreak of violence--and a climactic earthquake--jarringly traumatic. Emphasizing nobility in war and the many definitions of love, the story's wartime context intensifies the film's admirable depth of emotion. Faults will be found by anyone who's looking for them, but Captain Corelli's Mandolin remains a sensuous, richly layered film that die-hard romantics will find hard to resist. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
AN ACCLAIMED ROMANCE ABOUT A BEAUTIFUL, STRONG-WILLED GREEK WOMAN WHOSE HEART IS CAPTURED BY AN IRREPRESSIBLE ITALIAN OFFICER WITH A PASSION FOR MUSIC.

Well thats a very brief summary there...(sorry I've contradictd myself) But the rest of the movie is pure beauty and emotion.
The scenes on the actually island are breathtaking, the music by Stephen Warbick (Shakespeare in Love) simply fabulous and heartbreaking,and the acting by Cruz,Cage was perfect despite Cage's somewhat not so perfect accent. I also have to add great support by Christian bale and especially John Hurt who I thought should ve been nominated for an oscar for supporting role.

I think this movie can be summed up by one tiny scene where the Italian and German soldiers along with the local Greeks are at terrace in the evening drinking and debating on war and justifying their point of view. The argument gets heated until one Italian soldiers gets up and says poignantly :
"its such a beautiful night.....I want to fall in love"


Terrific Adaptation Of A Great Novel!   August 28, 2002
Barron Laycock (Temple, New Hampshire United States)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I am always suspicious whenever a best-selling book is used as the vehicle for a big-budget movie, as too often they are poorly interpreted sand transformed from print to film. For example, although many directors have tried, no one has ever successfully transformed one of Ernest Hemingway's novels to the screen. The attempt to bring "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" to moviegoers was an unmitigated disaster, as was "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me". Yet, perhaps because the siren call of the successful novel is so alluring, directors keep on trying. Here again they try to bring a masterful and long novel of over 400 pages to the screen.

It some respects, this is a very successful adaptation. The depiction of both the romance and the dilemma the young officer faces is well depicted, and the director manages to recreate the quaint and provincial atmosphere of an Greek village masterfully, and one finds himself transported to this magical time and place through the magic of film. Yet in accomplishing this aspect of the story so well, the director gives short shrift to the rest of the story, so that the later parts of the novel get only brief and truncated treatments, undercutting the magic of the tale and seriously flawing the movie version of the story in the process.

The cinematography, however, is spectacular, and the location on the island of Kefallonia is perfect suited to the tale, as are the local extras used, who add enormously to the genuine feel to the film's atmosphere and ambiance. Nicholas Cage shows his range both as a leading man and as a heroic leader and carries out both aspects to the role quite well. Penelope Cruz is a young woman who is so beautiful she doesn't have to do much to be believable, at least to male viewers of a certain age and disposition. Enuf said? All in all, this is a very satisfying film, although I must admit to being disappointed to see the director skip so many subtle aspects of the latter parts of the story based on what appears to be time constraints. Still, this is very well done, and it is something I can highly recommend. Enjoy!