Capitaine Corelli

As is often the case when you attempt to take a 400 plus page book and cram it into a two hour film, a lot is lost. Here director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) takes on an extremely ambitious project and almost pulls it off. What we get is a charming and emotionally compelling film that seems somehow incomplete.

There is much about this film that is wonderful and fantastic. The cinematography by John Toll (Cinematographer for Braveheart and Legends of the Fall, winning Oscars for both) is splendid. Working with Madden, the choices for locations on the Greek island of Kefallonia are superb and the visual images that come from photographing these majestic locations in varying light are lush and beautiful. Madden also uses numerous Greek actors as the townspeople, giving the town an authentic feel. The soundtrack is also terrific and the mandolin passages and vocals by the Italian soldiers are marvelous.

Madden does an excellent job of bringing us the Italian occupation and the romance, which take up the greater part of the film. There are numerous sweet and funny moments throughout this segment. However, by the time the serious battle drama is ready to unfold, there isn't much film left in the reel and this component is extremely rushed and abbreviated. While the battle scenes are well done, subsequent to the battle it is obvious that increasingly greater compromises are being made to keep the film from running too long. By the time we reach the post war scenes, the treatment is merely skeletal. Another negative is that the DVD is particularly sparse on features.

Nicholas Cage is charming in the romantic lead as the sentimental Captain who seems to have joined the army to sing rather than fight. When fight he must, Cage switches gears seamlessly into a man of fierce principle and resolve and somehow remains believable in both personas.

Penelope Cruz, whom the camera loves, gives an uninspired performance as Pelagia. In part this is because Cage so dominates the screen, but Cruz just seems too placid in a part that should be emotionally torrential and dynamic. She allows the character to be objectified as Corelli's love interest rather than establishing her as a powerful character in her own right.

John Hurt gives a fantastic performance as the wise old doctor, who knows as much about human nature as medicine. However, Christian Bale seems a bit overwrought and stiff as Pelagia's fiancé.

I rated this film an 8/10. Despite some drawbacks, this is a touching film that is well worth seeing. The photography alone is worth the price of admission.

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....

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

When I was watching this movie one thought had come to my mind for several times: "It's not really what I expected, I thought it would be better", but now that I finished watching it I realize: why should I expect a better result from this movie? Isn't it just a "love story" made up in Hollywood show's standards? Of course, it is! If so, why expect more?

Captain Corelli's mandolin is a romance story in war time (WWII) and the plot which I was noticed about before watch the movie seemed very interesting to me. All that I didn't count was the "Hollywood standard's" touch... What I mean by this is that I expected a story a bit more realistic and with a stronger plot (which was not full of "plot holes" as this one is!) instead of this "sweet story romance, with the perfect ending", which we're used to watch in a great part of Hollywood's movies! Another Hollywood standard's gaffe which is very common is the natives' languages issue. The differences between Italian, Greek and German languages were all done just by a stupid accent, and all people seem to understand each other very well. The Italian and the German army arrive to a "forgotten" Greek island and they all understand each other very well as they all speak the same language! Of course it's just little technical details that don't even matter to the plot, but are all this little details which separate a good from a bad production!

But the movie has not just bad-sided arguments! On the good side, I can find the original idea (which comes from a book), and the thought that is possible to be Human, and have Human feelings, even inside a War. It's possible to sing and be happy, have good feelings, to love and to be loved in a War time! Was because of that main idea that I wanted to watch this movie, and at this particular point I wasn't disappointed! I just was dissatisfied about the way it was made! Another good-sided argument is History's knowledge… The movie is not very deep at that issue, but it's good enough to have a little idea how was the WWII in the Eastern-South Europe.

Globally Captain Corelli's mandolin is not a bad movie but it's not as good as I initially though either, mostly because of the "Hollywood show's standards" up-mentioned.

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.