Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4346 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-03-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 127 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
While Captain Corelli's Mandolin may frustrate admirers of Louis de Bernières' densely detailed novel, it proves Shakespeare in Love director John Madden is a worthy craftsman of literary films. It's a tastefully old-fashioned adaptation, preserving the novel's flavour 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. Emphasising 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, Amazon.com

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Making Of Captain Corelli
Feature Commentary With The Director
Music Video From Russell Watson
Soundtrack Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
English

Synopsis
In keeping with Hollywood's time-honoured tradition of turning celebrated novels into cinematic spectacles, director John Madden brings Louis de Berniere's acclaimed 1994 work, CORELLI'S MANDOLIN, to life. Set on the Greek island of Cephalonia in 1940, the film tells the story of the beautiful Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), who lives with her father, Dr. Iannis (John Hurt) and is engaged to local fisherman, Mandras (Christian Bale). When Mandras leaves the island to fight for his country, Pelagia is left behind to worry and wait for a letter, which never arrives. In the meantime, the Italian army occupies Cephalonia, and Pelagia and Dr. Iannis receive a new visitor into their home. Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage), a romantic opera lover with a passion for playing the mandolin, annoys Pelagia with his free-spirited personality, but it is this exact charm that eventually wins her heart. Soon, the two are head-over-heels in love. Mandras's return adds friction to the situation, but when the Germans sweep in and begin to senselessly murder the town's locals, Captain Corelli and Mandras must place their differences aside in order to preserve the island. Exquisitely photographed by cinematographer John Toll, Madden's film boasts impassioned performances by Hurt and legendary actress, Irene Papas.

Customer Reviews

Not the book but good
To make a film out of De Bernieres book was always going to be an impossible task. However, the film that did end up being given the title "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is very good. It is not the book, it does not have many of the characters and most of the sub plots. Nevertheless, it does capture the feelings of the island and the main characters. The film is visually stunning and the acting is not too bad either. Nicolas Cage, who plays Corelli, does have an accent problem but you soon forget it and just enjoy the film. Penelope Cruz (Pelagia) is good and plays her part well. However, John Hurt emerges as the true star in this film. His Greek accent is amazing and his acting superb. Overall, this film is very good and deserves to be watched.

breathtaking scenery, inspired acting
The film was but a short review of the book,after visiting the Island and reading the book I was pleased with the eventual outcome. The acting especially John Hurt was so real of the greek man,Penelope Cruz was magnificent in the way she portrayed Pelagia, in love, in sadness, in doubt of the way she was meant to behave in the time of invasion. Nicolas Cage was indeed the man for the part, Captain Corelli was played with that touch of Italian humour and nostalgic love appeal needed by the woman of the times. The ending was short in reflection to the book but the film version gave the scenic spleandour no book could ever give. I recommend this film to those who like good film scores, wonderful scenery and a cast which truly played out the characters heartaches and longings in times of oppression, but these are my personal views, I love the Island of Cephallonia, I loved the book, the film completed the dream.

A sumptuous plot reduced to the bare essentials
CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN is based on the book of the same title by Louis De Bernieres. "Based", at its loosest definition, is the operative term here. I would estimate that about 60% of the film has been faithfully translated from the book, the remainder being concocted from scratch to enhance the dramatic elements for an audience's short attention span. On the other hand, about 50% of the original, written version has been ignored. When one realizes that the film depicts a time span of about 7-8 years, while the novel's plot spans over 50, then this truncation is not unexpected.

CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN is a truly excellent literary piece. The screen adaptation is ...well, not bad, especially if it's your first exposure to the story. The main character is Pelagia, a young woman growing up with her widowed father on the Greek island of Cefallonia during World War Two, and who loves two men: Mandras, a neighbor who fights both with the Greek Army and the partisans, and Captain Antonio Corelli, an officer serving with the Italian occupying force. Generally speaking, both the book and the film examine the effects of the conflict on all four. The vast difference is in the particulars.

Since the cinematic version was photographed entirely on Cefallonia itself, what it accomplishes superbly is to enable you to visualize the locales if you subsequently read the book for the first time, or again. (Not surprisingly, Pelagia's house, the village, and the beach were everything I'd imagined them to be in my mind's eye. This was most satisfying.) Moreover, Nicolas Cage is a perfectly adequate personification of the charming, music loving Captain Corelli. (Indeed, I understand that Cage learned to play the mandolin specifically for the role.) And, from this male's point of view, gorgeous Penélope Cruz is absolutely exquisite as Pelagia. The best role is John Hurt's as Pelagia's physician father, Iannis, who's at his most excellent in a scene wherein he imparts wisdom to his daughter on the nature of Love vs. Falling In Love. Also very good is David Morrissey as Captain Weber of the German Wehrmacht, ultimately devastated by the conflicting demands of friendship and duty. Less successfully, Christian Bale is cast in the role of Mandras, a credit of dubious distinction since that character has been completely gutted in the transition from the novel to the silver screen. (If I were Bale, I'd sue.) And nowhere to be seen is the novel's comic relief: Psipsina, Pelagia's pet pine marten.

I liked this movie well enough. But sometimes a canvas painstakingly painted with small brushes and soft pastels has more appeal than the same oil dashed off with wide brushes and loud colors. The joy is in the subtlety and nuances of the details and shading. See the film if you have the opportunity, but do yourself a favor and make time to read the source material.