Product Details

• Actors: Nicolas Cage, Penélope Cruz, John Hurt, Christian Bale, Irene Papas
• Directors: John Madden
• Writers: Louis de Bernières, Shawn Slovo
• Producers: Debra Hayward, Eric Fellner, Jane Frazer, Kevin Loader, Liza Chasin
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English, German, Greek, Italian
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Run Time: 131 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (131 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005U1X7
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,708 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With this lavish follow-up to Shakespeare in Love, director John Madden proves himself a worthy craftsman of literary films, and while Captain Corelli's Mandolin may frustrate admirers of Louis de Bernières's densely detailed novel, it's a tastefully old-fashioned adaptation, preserving the novel's flavor while focusing on its love story set against the turbulence of World War II. Set on the Greek island of Cephallonia, the drama begins in 1940 with occupation by Italian troops, awkwardly allied with the Nazis and preferring hedonistic friendliness over military intimidation. That attitude is most generously embodied by Captain Corelli (Nicolas Cage), who is instantly drawn to the Greek beauty Pelagia (Penélope Cruz) despite her engagement to Mandras (Christian Bale), a resistance fighter whose absence leaves Pelagia needy for affection. Mandras's eventual return--and the inevitable attack by German bombers and ground troops--threaten to stain this Greek-Italian romance with deeply tragic bloodshed.

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Story, Music, and Scenery--A Triple Treat Movie, August 25, 2001

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
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Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage) epitomizes the best qualities of Italian men---in love with life, women, and music. His arrival on a small Greek island and falling in love at first sight with Pelagia (Penelope Cruz) is a beautiful love story with World War II's bloody battles as a backdrop. Cage performs superbly as the invader who makes friends with the enemy and is later startled by the ruthlessness of his German allies. Penelope Cruz is also outstanding as the highly-educated daughter of the village doctor (John Hurt) who is engaged to her intellectual inferior Mandras (Christian Bale.) The passion between Corelli and Pelagia is fraught with tension that erupts in a beautifully-directed love scene. Despite the great love story, it is perhaps the character of Mandras who is most compelling as his feelings for Pelagia are revealed and his actions toward Corelli round out his mysterious nature. I have never read the book, but would love to do so now in order to see a fuller development of the intriguing Mandras. Also notable among a cast of fine performances are those of Irene Pappas as the spirited mother of Mandras who realizes what is happening between Pelagia and Corelli, as well as David Morrissey as the German captain who battles personal feelings with his unquestionable support for Hitler. The music and singing in this movie is excellent. To borrow one of my favorite lines from the movie: Heil, Hitler, Heil Puccini! Listening to the Italian soldiers singing "Santa Lucia" and other great works from the Italian masters was alone worth the cost of admission. Add Corelli's beautiful playing of his mandolin and the idyllic setting of the Greek island of Cephalonia and you have a movie I highly recommend seeing.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Melodramatic yet interesting., August 21, 2001

By 

D. Litton (Wilmington, NC) - See all my reviews
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Watching "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is like reading a paperback romance novel: it's full of melodrama and passion, and you can guess, for the most part, what will come of the situations they must face in order to stay together. Director John Madden, who directed the glorious "Shakespeare in Love," hasn't lost his touch with striking set pieces and vistas, though his plot pacing here tends to dwindle at times.

The film takes place on the island of Ceppalonia in Greece, where the young peasant Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), and her father, Dr. Iannis (John Hurt), live in peace. At the time, World War II rages in Europe, though the town cannot begin to believe that they could possibly be affected in the future. Even Pelagia's fiancée, Mandras (Christian Bale), believes that once he arrives at the battle fronts, there will be little to accomplish.

But the war soon grows, and the alliance between Germany and Italy leads to the occupation of various Grecian islands by Italian forces, including Ceppalonia. It is here that Pelagia meets Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage), who makes a mockery of her beauty in front of his men but refuses her bed when he arrives at the doctor's home to stay. This begins their slowly building romance, which begins with her contempt for him over their circumstances of his arrival, and resonates into something more.

Madden handles the film with a style that is impeccable, filling his canvas with vibrant colors and set pieces. Ceppalonia is seen as a place of beauty, even amidst the fervor of war, from the lush greenery of forests and plants to the colorful clothing and elaborate homes.

However, the plot meanders aimlessly in certain scenes, mostly in the third act after the Germans have invaded Ceppalonia and are forcing the Italians out. Armies bombing one another, German bombers swooping down on Italians soldiers, troop transports arriving on the shores of the island... it all seems to a bit dull. What Madden does get right is the conveyance of a community torn apart by war, as people are driven from their homes and families are separated.

Which leads me to the love story: there's nothing new to the romance except for the backdrop, and it takes some familiar turns. We know that they have to eventually fall in love; it's a given due to their discomfort with one another in the beginning. We also know that, at some point, their love will be put in jeopardy due to the extremities of war that surround them.

But that rarely matters here, because Cage and Cruz fit into their roles exquisitely. Cage does some very impressive work as Corelli, not just with his Italian accent, but with his force and emotion as an actor. This works well with Cruz's Pelagia, who is modest yet strong in her morals. The two share a very warm chemistry together, and that makes some of the more familiar aspects of their romance seem new and invigorating.

"Captain Corelli's Mandolin" won't earn a place in history as "Shakespeare in Love," though it manages to engage us in a romantic story that is overall pleasing. This epic of love and war will leave some listless while others with be fascinated; I fell in between the two.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cinematic reminder of how terrible war is., August 27, 2001

By 

J. Sutherland "zeppfan" (Southport, North Carolina United States) - See all my reviews
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Captain Corelli's mandolin was a disturbing movie. I give it props for showing how terrible war can be. It's also a love story but I thought it was more about how the Greeks and the Italians were trying to live a normal life in spite of the war that their two countries were involved in. This movie shows the effects that war can have on an individual. I'd rather not give away any of the scenes in the movie but you'll have to trust me when I tell you this movie is disturbing and sad. It was slow and boring at first but it became more and more interesting as it went on. The romance between Cage and Cruz was pretty realistic and believable. And even though I don't like Penelope Cruz very much, I thought she was competent in this movie. Cage was very good, not his best performance but not his worst. I thought Christian Bale gave the best performance in the movie. He has always been good ever since "Emperor of the sun" with John Malkovich. The actor that played Cruz's father was also very good. The best aspects about this film are it's realism in terms of the problems facing man in war, and the music. There were some very beautiful moments in the film because of the music that Corelli plays on his Mandolin. The song that he writes for Pelagia is beautiful. If you like hearing the mandolin then go see the film. And if you like a good war movie go see it also. I liked it very much, it was emotionally moving, and it had some very beautiful moments.