Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)

Director:

John Madden

Writers:

Shawn Slovo (screenplay)
Louis de Bernières (novel)

Release Date:

17 August 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance | War

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Italian | Love | Island | Greek Island | Doctor

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Capitaine Corelli (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

UK | France | USA

Language:

English | Greek | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Brazil:12 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:TE | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 (bw) | Hungary:14 | Italy:T | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R13 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #37955)

Filming Locations:

Kefallonia island, Greece

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

In the first scenes Nicolas Cage sings the same song he sang in The Family Man (2000): "La donna è mobile".

Goofs:

Factual errors: A radio broadcast announces that the Allies have taken Rome. This leads to Italy dropping out of the war and fighting between the Italians and Germans. Italy surrendered in September 1943, after the Allies captured Sicily. Rome fell in June 1944, long after all of Captain Corelli's men were dead.

Quotes:

Pelagia: Why did you save him? Why didn't you leave him to die?
Mandras: I wanted you to love me again.
[Pulls out 100 letters]
Mandras: In Albania, I made them read every one of these to me... 'Mandras, I love you,' 'Mandras, I want you,' 'Mandras, when are you coming back?' And then one day, a different letter. 'I don't know how to describe my feelings. It's as if I have been waiting a hundred years to hear from you, waiting a hundred years for you to return. Once, my heart was overflowing with love for you, but now all I feel is emptiness. And I think it was all just a pretense, that I never loved you at all.'

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Matthew McConaughey/Dixie Chicks (#28.11)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

O'Mio Babbino Caro

Expecting the worst...

I have to admit that I approached this movie with a sense of expectation and dread. Louis de Berniere's bestselling novel is one of my favourites and anyone who has read it will realise that there is no way in hell that any screen adaptation can be 100% faithful.

All the way through I found myself convincing myself that the movie was unsuccessful, and had stripped the book's plot back so far as to render it redundant. The ending, however, is much better than that in the novel, and I could not stop thinking about the movie afterwards. Still, the plusses (John Toll's magnificent cinematography, Stephen Warbeck's great score, etc) I felt did not outweigh my initial negatives (Cage's miscasting, a heavily diluted script).

But, two days later, I was queuing again to see Corelli, and although not perfect, I have to admit now that the movie is the best anyone could have expected. Cage is actually brilliant in a role that even de Berniere was concerned was not a fully rounded character: his carefree spirit which gives way to shattered remorse is spot on, and complements the superb double act of Penelope Cruz and John Hurt perfectly. David Morrissey is quietly effective as Weber, the Nazi officer trying to reconcile his feelings for his newfound Italian friends and his inbred superiority complex to those around him. And the fine Greco-Italian supporting cast bring de Berniere's sundrenched world of Cepholonia dazzlingly alive.

On leaving the cinema second time around, I finally let go my passion for the novel which prevented me from fully appreciating the story of WW2 Cepholonia in cinematic terms. My hat goes off to John Madden who, despite the almost expected critical drubbing he is receiving from the British critics (any director who has had a major success like Shakespeare in Love behind them is always a target for these moaning ninnies!),has managed to transfer a terrifically difficult book to the big screen with such heart, verve and humanity (the core virtues of the novel, in fact) that he has created another classic love story that will probably only be fully appreciated when the dust has settled a few years from now.

If you are a fan of the book, like me, it's hard, but try not to make the same mistake on your initial viewing. Try to erase the book from your mind for two hours, bathe yourself in the glorious Mediterranean atmosphere, and discover Corelli, Pelagia, Mandras, Dr Iannis, as if for the first time (pretend you're watching something made from an original screenplay), and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

In fact, you'll be eagerly waiting to own your own copy of this delightful movie on video or DVD.

8/10