Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)

When a fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek army during WWII, his fiancee falls in love with the local Italian commander.

Director:

John Madden

Writers:

Shawn Slovo (screenplay), Louis de Bernières (novel)

Stars:

Penélope Cruz, John Hurt, Christian Bale

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Penélope Cruz	...	Pelagia
John Hurt	...	Dr. Iannis
Christian Bale	...	Mandras
Irene Papas	...	Drosoula
Gerasimos Skiadaressis	...	Mr. Stamatis
Aspasia Kralli	...	Mrs. Stamatis
Mihalis Giannatos	...	Kokolios
Dimitris Kaberidis	...	Father Aresenios (as Dimitris Kamperidis)
Pietro Sarubbi	...	Velisarios, The Strongman (as Pedro Sarubbi)
Viki Maragaki	...	Eleni, Pelagia's Friend
Joanna-Daria Adraktas	...	Young Lemoni
Ira Tavlaridis	...	Older Lemoni
Katerina Didaskalou	...	Lemoni's Mother
Emilios Chilakis	...	Dimitris
Nikos Karathanos	...	Spiros

Storyline

In 1941, Italy allies with Germany and ruthlessly conquers the much weaker country of Greece. On a remote Greek island, an Italian artillery garrison is established to maintain order. One Italian officer, Captain Corelli, adopts an attitude of mutual co-existence with the Greeks and engages in such activities as music festivals and courting the daughter of a local doctor. In 1943, however, after Italy surrenders to the Allies and changes sides in the war, Captain Corelli must defend the Greek island against a German invasion.

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Plot Keywords:

italian | greek | love | island | captain | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [fr] (French) Buena Vista Int. (UK) (Flash only)

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English Greek German Italian

Release Date:

17 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

La mandolina del capitán Corelli

Filming Locations:

Chorgota Beach, Komitata Village, Kefallonia Island, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

$57,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,209,345 (USA) (17 August 2001)

Gross:

$25,528,495 (USA) (12 October 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Miramax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Louis de Bernières rewrote the book approximately 35 times to ensure he had got details told to him by locals as accurate as possible.

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Goofs

The movie implies that the earthquake that devastated Cephallonia after World War II occurred in 1947. It was actually in 1953. At the end of the credits, the movie is dedicated to the memory of those who died in the post-war earthquake of 1953. The DVD commentary also mentions the correct date.

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Quotes

Pelagia: I wrote to you every day. A hundred letters... and not a single reply.
Mandras: [takes out her letters from his coat] I never learned... to read or write.

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Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: The Road Trip to Harvard (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Ricordo Ancor"
(Pelagia's Song)
(Warbeck/Reconti)
Performed by Russell Watson
Courtesy of Decca Music Group

User Reviews

Sweet like candy but no more than that – unmemorable

Against her father's wishes Pelagia marries her fisherman fiancé just before he goes off to war. When she stops getting replies to her letters everyone fears the worst but she holds out hope that he is still alive. Meanwhile the Greek's initial defeat of the Italian army causes Hitler to support a full attack that leaves Greece and it's island inhabited by Italian soldiers. Pelagia and her father find themselves housing Italian Captain Corelli, who loves music and is charming. While Pelagia hates Italians and loves her husband she finds herself falling for the Captain over time.

At the time of release there was plenty of dating couple who went to see this film and there was also a boost in the tourist trade in Greece, accompanied by lots of television travel programmes talking about the islands and the film. These two things were in my mind when I sat to watch the film tonight and I quickly understood why they were the case. Firstly the reason so many travel shows picked it up is because the film makes the place look great! Each shot is full of warm colour and the locations are picture-book all the way through. The idyllic feel that the location brings is also part of the wider film with a story that is sweet but high on Hollywood gloss. I have not read the book and have no intention of reading the book but I understand from other's comments that the screenplay has lost some 'difficult' elements and focused on the romance in the story. Ignoring this (as many who have not read the book will be able to) the film is just like the landscape – sweeping, easy on the eye, nice and ultimately quite unmemorable.

This explains why it was a popular date movie or, to use that expression I generally dislike, chick-flick. The romance is simple and sweet and it is enjoyable on that level; I can't say it touched me on a deep level (or any level) but it was sweet and I quite liked it. Towards the end it gets harder and more about the war than the romance but I felt this was too sudden a change that had been left too late in the game to fully work – it was too much of a sea change for me to fully go with it.

The cast are mostly pretty and OK just like the landscape. Cage is too nice to be true but still tries hard; his Italian accent has corny 'mama-mia' moments but is generally OK. Cruz is fairly bland and doesn't bring a great deal to the film other that her looks (which personally don't appeal to me that much) and Christian Bale is given little to do considering how good an actor he is generally. Hurt is good value as always and the support cast fill in the gaps well even if few of them have anything approaching what could be called a character.

Overall this is a sweet film that turns bitter for the final quarter of it's running time – a change in mood that is quite difficult when it occurs due to it's suddenness. However it manages to stay quite sweet and romantic despite running with a simplified script and a glossy approach to everything. It is quite unmemorable and I doubt I shall ever watch it again but I found it to be like the landscape – easy on the eye and rather pleasing to watch without touching me on more than a superficial level.