Capitaine Corelli

Unlike many, I have not read the book and so I watched this purely as a film in its own right. I'm not especially keen on romance dramas, and I expected this to be a bit slushy and/or operatic so I was rather hesitant about going to see it in the first place...

But I'm glad I did, because it was good. Beautiful, "feel good" scenery and with a light touch of humour that made it rather more endearing than a straight drama would have been. The romance was gentle, inoffensive and sufficiently interwoven with enough "proper" story-telling to keep my interest, and the score was not too obtrusively operatic.

Overall, the film takes a satisfying circular route from start to finish, inducing a range of emotions as it progresses. It's about 2 hours long, but I didn't find myself fidgeting or looking at my watch once - and that's quite a feat for me!! Very enjoyable.

Ok, it's a given that you cannot make a good movie from a good book. (Unless you make it a trilogy :-) But comparing the book Corelli's Mandolin to this movie it's clear how much has to be cut to fit a screenplay. The book is very funny in places, romantic (of course), dramatic. What's left of it in the film is inexplicable romance -- as other reviewers have remarked, it's unclear why she falls in love with the italian while her betrothed is still around, and I have no idea why this was changed from the book -- and some gratuitous gunning and bombing scenes, more than in the book which derives its power from not hammering on the obvious points. Whole characters are cut: Carlo has maybe 10 seconds screen time, while in the book he has a whole story line that runs several chapters.

I should have seen this movie earlier but seeing it at this late date after release did in no way diminish the tremendous enjoyment of the film. I admit it-I love non-American films-even if those films are American products. But this was so totally non-Hollywood in texture, locations and substance that I can easily forgive the intrusion of Hollywood personalities.

The script, the acting and the remarkably beautiful cinematography were so engrossing that the minor problems of plot simply were drowned in beautiful images. John Toll's brilliant camera work immediately impresses the viewer-so good that this viewer will rent the video more just to appreciate the beautiful play of light and dark in the screens images. I honestly felt that those images were three dimensional-that they could be lifted from the theatre and carried away.

Early on in his career, I watched Cage in what I thought was a dog of a film-something about angels in white robes standing on California beaches and subsequently dismissed him but after watching Corelli I must reassess his work-I thought the casting of him as the semi-professorial Corelli was a master stroke.

To make any comment on the events that occurred on Corelli's island is to trivialize those events because somebody sitting in Fremantle looking back can never appreciate the monstrousness of what happened. Hindsight is not an aide in this case but I do believe that movie magic was laid before viewers of this film.

Wonderful film with fine performances especially by John hurt and Nicolas Cage..Penelope Cruz put in a specially fine performance. You truly felt like you were in Greece in that era..The photography and location shots were fabulous..the portrayal of the italian soldier was truly on the mark ..These men had never seen battle and looked upon the war as a lark..Remember Pearl Harbor and how the common sailor acted...The turning point from this attitude to one of reality was handled well..The romance between Cage and Cruz was handled delicately Since when can you no longer have a romance in a film. The criticism of the accents may be well founded but I did not find it detrimental to the film...I also must applaud the make up and costumes ..You truly felt transported to that era..Do not let the current rating system keep you from seeing this truly unique and enjoyable film....

The main problem with 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' is that it focuses primarily on the romance between Corelli and Pelagia and that too is half-baked. What is it that draws Pelagia towards him is too unclear. Is it just his musical talent or his zest? The film is set against the backdrop of a war between the Germans and Italians in a Greek island but the war is given less significance and what we see appears very sketchy. The entire film appears too sketchy, melodramatic and clichéd. Much of it is also historically inaccurate.

On the technical front it is well executed. The cinematography of the beautiful exotic locations is breathtaking. The score is terrific. Where acting is concerned, Penelope Cruz can't seem to lose her Spanish accent (she's playing a Greek character) but her performance is otherwise wonderful. John Hurt and Christian Bale are equally marvelous. Nicolas Cage is a miscast. His Italian accent, energetic personality, overdone non-verbal gestures all yield to a caricature rather than a character.

Perhaps director John Madden was pressured to fit the entire novel into a two hour period and he chose to focus on the romance more to draw a larger crowd. I can't shake the feeling that perhaps someone like Anthony Mingella would have made a better and more complete film of it.