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When the passionate Captain Corelli (Nicholas Cage) is given accommodation at Dr. Iannis's home, the relationship between Corelli and Pelagia is somewhat frosty, but over time a bond between them forms which grows into a romance. Everything seems to be going well, especially as news comes ... Read review
WhileCaptain Corelli's Mandolinmay frustrate admirers of Louis de Bernières' densely ... more
detailed novel, it provesShakespeare in Lovedirector John Madden is a worthy craftsman of literary films. It's a tastefully old-fashioned adaptation, preserving the no...
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WhileCaptain Corelli's Mandolinmay frustrate admirers of Louis de Bernières' densely ... more
detailed novel, it provesShakespeare in Lovedirector John Madden is a worthy craftsman of literary films. It's a tastefully old-fashioned adaptation, preserving the no...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
With memorable performances from Nicolas Cage (Gone In 60 Seconds, Leaving Las Vegas) and ... more
Penelope Cruz (Blow, All The Pretty Horses), acclaimed director John Madden (Shakespeare In Love) creates breathtaking imagery set amid the Italian occupation of ...
In keeping with Hollywood's time-honored tradition of turning celebrated novels into ... more
cinematic spectacles director John Madden brings Louis de Berniere's acclaimed 1994 work 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' to life. Set on the Greek island of Cephalon...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli a young Italian officer is posted to the Greek ... more
island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals but as a conscien-tious but far from fanatical soldier whose main aim is to have a peaceful war he proves in time to be civilised humorous - and a consumate musician. When the local doctor's daughter's letters to her fiance go unanswered the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli a young Italian officer is posted to the Greek ... more
island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals but as a conscientious but far from fanatical soldier whose main aim is to have a peaceful war he proves in time to be civilised humorous - and a consummate musician. when the local doctor's daughter's letters to her fiance go unanswered the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Captain Corelli's Mandolin:When Captain Antonio Corelli and his Italian army company ... more
arrive on the unpoiled Greek island of Cephallonia, strong willed young Pelagia and the other villagers meet these uninvited guests with resentment. But as the Italians' charm and passion for life win their acceptance, Pelagia and Corelli begin to develop a bond that transcends the divisions of nationality and circumstance. Then, as the harsh reality of war ultimately crashes upon the idyllic shores of Cephallonia, Captain Cprelli must face the possibility of leaving the island and losing the woman he has come to love.Chocolat:Chocolat is the beautiful and captivating comedy based on the best-selling novel by Joanne Harris. Nobody could have imagined the impact that the striking Vianne would make when she arrived in a tranquil, old fashioned French town. In her very unusual chocolate shop, Vianne begins to create mouth-watering confections that almost magically inspire the straitlaced villagers to abandon themselves to temptation and happiness. But it is not until another stranger, the handsome Roux, arrives in town that Vianne is finally able to recognise her own desires.
Pelagia's Song The Recruiting Officer To Albania Horgota Beach Albania The Arrival Of The ... more
Italians La Scala Songs: La Donna E Mobile - Verdi;Lilli Marlene - Schultze The Tango Santa Lucia Cottrau The Mandolin After The Dance Agii Fanentes Lemoni The Guitar Surrender On The Jetty The Battle Senza Di Te Esacape From The Island The Aftermath Iannis' Letter Ricordo Ancor (Peligia's Song) Reunion
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Set in 1940 on the Greek island of Cephallonia, this is the story of Dr. Iannis and his ... more
daughter Pelagia who find themselves playing unwilling hosts to Captain Antonio Corelli from the Italian army. The Captain soon captures the hearts of those that live on the island, especially that of Pelagia. Based on the best selling novel by Louis de Berniere.
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: John Duigan - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Penelope Cruz
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Beautiful music, and wonderful story Disadvantages: Not a straight adaptation of the book
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When the passionate Captain Corelli (Nicholas Cage) is given accommodation at Dr. Iannis's home, the relationship between Corelli and Pelagia is somewhat frosty, but over time a bond between them forms which grows into a romance. Everything seems to be going well, especially as news comes through that the Italian leader, Mussolini, had surrendered to the Allied forces. The Italian forces are over the moon, and can't wait to go home. As the ... ...Treasure) plays the music loving Captain Corelli, who has a huge passion for opera and also his mandolin. We are treated to numerous operatic renditions of Puccini from Corelli and his army colleagues as well as some truly beautiful mandolin pieces. Cage's performance as Corelli is one of his best; he delivers each scene with perfect sentiment even when the script gives him some very over the top romantic lines. Penelope Cruz (Vanilla Sky) plays ... more
Dr. Iannis (John Hurt) and his beautiful daughter Pelagia (Penélope Cruz) live and work on the beautiful Greek isle of Kefallonia. Pelagia is in love with handsome fisherman Mandras (Christian Bale) who is eager to prove his worth in the war against the Germans and Italians. He sets off too fight the enemy but after he leaves, the island is captured by the Italian forces. As expected, they are met with a lot of hatred, but the Italians show a compassionate side, and through their passion for life they start to gain acceptance.
When the passionate Captain Corelli (Nicholas Cage) is given accommodation at Dr. Iannis's home, the relationship between Corelli and Pelagia is somewhat frosty, but over time a bond between them forms which grows into a romance. Everything seems to be going well, especially as news comes through that the Italian leader, Mussolini, had surrendered to the Allied forces. The Italian forces are over the moon, and can't wait to go home. As the Italians surrender their weapons over to the German forces, trouble starts and some Italians get killed. In anger, Corelli and some of his men join the Greek resistance, which includes Mandras, to help free the island from the German invaders and to get revenge for the deaths of their friends.
This is an adaptation of Louis de Bernieres novel "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". The book is a very gritty and real account of the war, full of emotion and vivid imagery. The film has done a reasonable attempt at transferring it to the big screen, but in doing so has lost a lot of the grit and focused on the romance between Pelagia and Corelli. If you haven't read the book, then the film is indeed very compelling, but for those who have read the book it is a little bit of a let down.
The main stars of the film are Penelope Cruz and Nicholas Cage, but there are huge supporting performances from John Hurt and Christian Bale. Nicholas Cage (National Treasure) plays the music loving Captain Corelli, who has a huge passion for opera and also his mandolin. We are treated to numerous operatic renditions of Puccini from Corelli and his army colleagues as well as some truly beautiful mandolin pieces. Cage's performance as Corelli is one of his best; he delivers each scene with perfect sentiment even when the script gives him some very over the top romantic lines. Penelope Cruz (Vanilla Sky) plays the beautiful Pelagia, a very strong willed woman who finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls in love with Corelli, but also having feelings for Mandras. Cruz is not only captivating for her looks but also the emotion and sentiment that she displays in her scenes. John Hurt (The Elephant Man) is magnificent as Pelagia's father, who although loves the traditions of his beautiful island, he accepts that things change and he has to embrace them. Christian Bale (Batman Begins) delivers a great performance as Mandras, who realizes that Pelagia has fallen for Corelli and although it hurts, he would still do anything to make her happy.
The film is directed by John Madden, who previously directed the equally good "Shakespeare in Love". Madden has done an excellent job at creating a very good romantic film which could have quite easily become to sickly. As well as displaying the romantic side of the film, he has also done a reasonable job of displaying the travesty of war, without making the film overly dark and depressing. Along with this, there are some beautiful moments of subtle humour, such as when the Italians are putting on a show by detonating a mine on the beach but get it wrong, with out these light hearted moments the film could have been too serious for a lot of people. Although the film does not demonstrate the power of the original book, I feel Madden has done a good job of what really would have been an impossible task. There is no way that Madden or any other director would have been able to recreate the novel on the big screen.
The film is shot on the beautiful island of Kefallonia which is really picturesque. The areas of the island they have used seems to be pretty much untouched since the 1940's, which makes this film very realistic. Some of the scenes are nearly over taken by the sheer beauty of the landscape.
The original sound track to the movie is provided by Stephen Warbeck who had previously worked on Billy Elliot. The music of the film is very important as it helps to convey the beauty of the island, the growing romance between Pelagia and Corelli, and also the harshness of war. Along with this, there are some very good musical performances of pieces by Puccini, Cottrau, and Verdi, some of which were actually performed by Nicholas Cage. As well as this you get the beautiful mandolin pieces which include the enchanting "Pelagia's Song".
The Cast -----------
Nicolas Cage .... Captain Corelli Penélope Cruz .... Pelagia John Hurt .... Dr. Iannis Christian Bale .... Mandras Irene Papas .... Drosoula Gerasimos Skiadaressis .... Mr. Stamatis Aspasia Kralli .... Mrs. Stamatis
Technical Details ---------------------
Certificate: 15 Length: 124 mins
Bonus Material ------------------
There is a featurette on the making of, which is very interesting..
Then you get an audio commentary by the director, which is very useful and gives you an insight into what he was aiming to display in each scene.
Next you get a music video of "Pelagia's Dong" featuring Russell Watson; in my opinion Russell Watson ruins this beautiful piece of music.
Then you get the production notes along with the filmographys of the cast and crew.
There is also the theatrical trailer and also a trailer for the sound track which is available on CD.The Message & Christian View Point --------------------------------------------
There are some great messages about the travesty of war and love between two people in the film. But one scene which really demonstrates a very good message is when one of Corelli's soldiers jumps in front of him to try and save him from a firing squad. Why did he do this when he knew he would be killed in the process. Personally I believe it is because he felt he owed Corelli for bringing love and compassion back to his life. The soldier had been in active duty before joining Corelli and was scarred by what he had seen. In return for making him forget these horrors he was willing to die for him, in the knowledge that Pelagia and Corelli were in love and had something to live for.
Conclusion & Rating -------------------------
This is one of my favourite films of the last few years, purely down to the great storyline, excellent performances, beautiful location, wonderful music and great sentiment (sorry if I'm gushing a bit). It may not be a direct adaptation of the novel, but in its own right is a really beautiful love story. If you have read the novel, I would suggest you don't watch this as you may be disappointed. But if you want a good romantic movie to watch whilst curled up with a bottle of wine and a box of tissues, then this is for you.
It is currently available for £5.97 on Amazon which is brilliant value for a film which will never become dated and will always have an audience who will love it.
...billeted with local families. Enter Captain Corelli, who is put with Pelagia. And this is where the film really starts to go wrong. First of all, whoever cast Nic Cage should at the absolute least be made to actually read the book - and failing that, shot alongside the scriptwriter, who's managed here to come up with the worst piece of film writing since Titanic. Cage is a very fine actor, but a romantic hero he is not. Every time he sat prettily ... ...men, between the passionate, musical Captain and the loyalty and social stigma which binds her to the childhood sweetheart she no longer loves, is something she expresses mostly without saying a word. It's just a shame that the costume designers felt the need to signal in every single scene that she's peasant girl by tying bits of cloth over her hair and making her chop fruit or do rustic things in fields - the poor girl spends the entire movie with ...
ImogenW 07.05.2001 (05.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (DVD)
Advantages: A good evenings viewing Disadvantages: Nothing like the book
...difference. Nicolas Cage plays Captain Corelli who is a very attractive and well-educated Italian occupier who is more interested in music than war. The part is played well enough for the audience to start to fall in love with him. John Hurt plays Dr. Iannis, the wizened old Greek man who is Peligia father. He plays the part in a convincing manner, I could believe that he was the greek doctor who has the wisdom for the whole island.
The setting ... ...a major part with the captain being a musician. We have troops of soldiers singing together no matter what they are doing be it in the washroom, on the beach or travelling around in jeeps. Then there is the Mandolin playing of the captain which there is far too little of!
One thing I would criticise in this film is the fact that the Italians although they are occupiers seem to be more like friends but the Germans are a totally different breed of ...
mjbarkley 15.02.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (DVD)
Advantages: The fantastic sceneries, a chance to see Nicholas cage attempt an Italian accent. Disadvantages: A film with qualities that aren't particularly special
...leader of this army is Captain Corelli (Nicholas Cage), who uses Pelagia and her father’s home as his own. Pelagia is not impressed and is not at all accommodating to Captain Corelli’s presence in her village.
Captain Corelli has a foreign sense of humour, but in actual fact is harmless enough. Pelagia is not impressed that Captain Corelli frolicking amongst the waves with topless Italian women, when the Greeks’s are fighting for their lives. She ... ...and shows loving fear when Captain Corelli is injured in an explosive accident. She is finally overcome with fantastic love when, Captain Corelli finally gets out his mandolin.
The war is becoming a more and more serious issue, and it is quite possible that this sad circumstance will tear their love apart.
OPINION
The scenery included in this film was beautiful. I think it gave a splendid atmosphere to the whole film- almost dreamy!
It was quite ...
louloutrixabelle 09.06.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (DVD)
Advantages: nice scenery Disadvantages: too long, too lightweight, a tad boring
Captain Corelli's Mandolin is based on a best-selling novel and is directed by John Madden (Shakespeare In Love). On a greek island life is wonderful with a big sense of community where everybody lives in peace. Backed by beautiful scenery on a clifftop lives Doctor Iannis (John Hurt) and his plain but alluring daughter Pelagia (Penelope Cruz). Her affections are won by a simple young fisherman Mandras (Christian Bale) who has plans to marry her. ... ...homes of the islanders. One captain corelli (Nic Cage) arrives at the home of Iannis and Pelagia and meets some hostility. Meanwhile Mandras is away fighting the war. Eventually romance blooms between Corelli and Pelagia which leaves Mandras out in the cold. All the while the war rages on and things get hostile. From the look of the trailers you get the impression that this is an epic love story. Yes it's a love story on paper but it's far from epic. ...
utero 09.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (DVD)
Advantages: Glorious setting Disadvantages: Drags a bit
...exactly two hours in length Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is, for most people, twenty minutes too long. Those of you hoping for a love story set against the exciting backdrop of bloody warfare and the daring escapades of the Greek Underground Militia may find it to be two hours too long!
This is a film about people and spends it’s time looking at how love, honour and loyalty can set a community apart.
It is set on the Greek island of Cephallonia ... ...Cage is the Italian army captain that takes a shine to Cruz when the Italians occupy the area. John Hurt is the worldly-wise Doctor who is father to Cruz.
Cage is stuck with an Italian accent that is remarkably similar to that offered by Gavin Richards in Allo, Allo! Cruz is a bit of a cold fish as the love interest and there is very little evidence of any chemistry between them. John Hurt ‘hams’ it up with great enthusiasm throughout ...
shaun 07.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (DVD)
Set in 1940 on the Greek island of Cephallonia, this is the story of Dr. Iannis and his daughter Pelagia who find themselves playing unwilling hosts to Captain Antonio Corelli from the Italian army. The Captain soon captures the hearts of those that live on the island, especially that of Pelagia. Based on the best selling novel by Louis de Berniere.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINM; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Making Of Captain Corelli, Feature Commentary With The Director, Music Video From Russell Watson, Soundtrack Trailer, Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...[Madden] and his cast deliver the storytelling goods in many fine isolated moments..." (Box Office, p.62, 01/10/2001)
"...The movie shimmers with a bluish-gold luminescence reflected from the turquoise waters of the Ionian sea....A glorious ode to the sun-baked island on which it was filmed..." (New York Times, p.E1, 17/08/2001)
"...[The] photography of island ocean vistas and town squares is so fare the year's most gorgeous..." (USA Today, p.4E, 17/08/2001)
DVD Description
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.
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