Captain Corelli's Mandolin (film)

Captain Corelli's Mandolin (film)
Promotional film poster
Directed by	John Madden
Produced by	Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Mark Huffam, Kevin Loader
Written by	Shawn Slovo Louis de Bernières (Novel)
Starring	Nicolas Cage Penélope Cruz John Hurt Christian Bale David Morrissey Irene Papas
Music by	Stephen Warbeck
Cinematography	John Toll
Editing by	Mick Audsley
Studio	StudioCanal Working Title Films
Distributed by	North America Universal Studios International Miramax Films
Release date(s)	August 17, 2001 (2001-08-17)
Running time	131 minutes
Country	France United Kingdom United States
Language	English Greek German Italian
Budget	$57 million
Box office	$62,112,895

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a 2001 film directed by John Madden and based on the novel of the same name by Louis de Bernières. It stars Nicolas Cage and Penélope Cruz.

Plot

The bucolic beauty of Greece's Ionian islands has been invaded by Italy, bringing a large Italian garrison and a few Germans to the tranquil island of Cephallonia, which immediately surrenders. Captain Antonio Corelli, a Greek-speaking officer of the infantry division 'Acqui' with an irrepressibly jovial personality and a passion for the mandolin, and who trains his battery of men - who have never fired a shot - in choral singing, initially alienates a number of the villagers, including Pelagia. The daughter of the village doctor, Pelagia is an educated and strong-willed woman, and while at first offended by the Italian soldier's behaviour, she slowly warms to his certain charm as they are forced to share her father's home when the doctor agrees to put him up in exchange for medical supplies.

When Pelagia's fiance, Mandras, a local fisherman, heads off to war on the mainland, the friendship between Antonio and Pelagia grows. Her beauty and intelligence have captured his heart and his fondness for the village's vibrant community causes him to question his reasons for fighting. Antonio and his battery of musical troops become part of the lives of the villagers, but the moment is fleeting. As the war grows closer, Antonio and Pelagia are forced to choose between their allegiances and the love they feel for one another - a love which must overcome tremendous odds, and endure the inevitable sacrifice which accompanies devotion.

The Italian government surrenders to the Allies, and the Italian troops happily prepare to go home. However, their erstwhile allies the Germans insist on disarming the Italians, intemperately and violently. The Greeks are exposed to the brutal incoming Germans, and arrange with the Italians to use their arms in a brief and futile resistance. For this, the German High Command has thousands of the Italian troops shot as traitors. Corelli survives when one of his soldiers throws himself across him, and Mandras takes him to Pelagia and the doctor to recover, and then to a boat to escape the island.

Pelagia discovers that Mandras did not reply to her letters because he is illiterate, and they part. In 1947, Pelagia receives a parcel from Italy containing a record of the tune Corelli wrote for her, but no note. An earthquake destroys much of the village and the doctor's house, but island life continues, and eventually Corelli returns to Pelagia.

Time Line

1940	October 28	Italy invades Greece
1941	April 6	Germany invades Greece
	June 1	The Axis forces occupy all of Greece
		2 year time span
1943	September 3	Italy and the Allied forces sign an armistice	_
	September 15	The German Luftwaffe bombards the Italian positions with Stuka dive-bombers
		10 year time span
1953	August 12	The Great 1953 Ionian Earthquake occurs

Cast and roles

• Nicolas Cage - Captain Antonio Corelli
• Penélope Cruz - Pelagia
• John Hurt - Dr. Iannis
• Christian Bale - Mandras
• Irene Papas - Drosoula
• David Morrissey - Captain Gunther Weber
• Piero Maggio - Carlo
• Gerasimos Skiadaressis - Mr. Stamatis
• Aspasia Kralli - Mrs. Stamatis
• Michael Yannatos - Kokolios
• Dimitris Kaberidis - Father Arsenios
• Pietro Sarubbi - Velisarios, The Strongman
• Viki Maragaki - Eleni, Pelagia's Friend
• Joanna-Daria Adraktas - Young Lemoni
• Ira Tavlaridis - Older Lemoni
• Katerina Didaskalu - Lemoni's Mother
• Emilios Chilakis - Dimitris
• Andrew Simos - Extra/Stuntman

Box office

The film opened at #6 at the U.S. Box office, raking in $7,209,345 USD in its opening weekend. It brought in only $25.5 million domestically but brought in an additional $36.6 million overseas to a total of $62.1 million worldwide, bringing its $57 million budget back.

Reception

The film was panned by critics^{[citation needed]} on its release, and disappointed fans^{[citation needed]} by deviating somewhat from the plot of the novel, with many of the book's tragic episodes softened. It maintains a 29% rating according to Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus: "The cinematography is gorgeous, but the movie plays it fast and loose with history and the novel it was adapted from. Mostly, the movie fails because the romance between the leads strains credulity and the story is largely uninvolving." Penelope Cruz's performance earned her a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress (also for Blow and Vanilla Sky).

Dedication

“

This film is dedicated to the thousands of Italian soldiers executed by German forces on the island in September 1943 and to the people of Cephallonia who were killed in the post-war earthquake.

”

See also

• Massacre of the Acqui Division
• 1953 Ionian Earthquake

External links

• Captain Corelli's Mandolin at IMDB
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin at Box Office Mojo
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin at Rotten Tomatoes