- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,715
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Love itself is what is left over,
when being in love has burned away
The year is 1941. Italy, allied with Germany,
has conquered most of Greece. On the small Greek
island of Cephallonia, a small troup of Italian
soldiers are dispatched to keep order. Amongst the
soldiers is Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicholas Cage),
a fun-loving Italian who enjoys his wine, pasta and
most of all -- song. His passion is his mandolin
that he wears across his back.
The Italians are almost on a holiday. They
take in the hot sun, bathe in the warm Mediterranean,
and look upon the island's beautiful women. One
of those women, Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), becomes
the object of Corelli's desire. Pelagia is
engaged to a local fisherman (Christian Bale),
who has headed off to war.
Under the watchful eye of her father (John Hurt),
the island's doctor, Pelagia and Corelli begin a
heated affair. As the war grows ever closer,
Antonio and Pelagia are forced to choose between
their allegiance to their countries and the love
they feel for one another.
I found Captain Corelli's Mandolin to be
extremely well made and often enjoyable. The initial
problem I had with this film was accepting
Nicholas Cage as an Italian. At first, it's almost
unbearable to watch him as this jovial singing
character with an Italian accent that seems more
parodied than real. After some time, as you see
his character evolve, you begin to accept Cage in
the role, though perhaps it could have been better
cast.
Penelope Cruz is absolutely a delight to watch.
Her beauty is as mesmerizing as the Greek island
she inhabits. She succeeds in portraying an
educated, strong-willed woman who must overcome
tremendous odds.
The one shining acting performance, however,
comes from John Hurt, who gives a marvellous
performance as a father who is so attuned to
every emotion his daughter is going through.
How is the DVD transfer?
A truly beautiful anamorphic (2.35:1) transfer
that shows off the beauty of the Greek island
and the beautiful surrounding Mediterranean sea.
Picture remains brilliantly crisp, and colors
are well balanced. Transfers generally don't
come much better than this one.
What I like most about Universal titles is
that they offer a DTS track, which is my
preferred method of listening to a film. The
5.1 mix is evenly balanced, with rears that
come alive with the sounds of German planes
flying overhead and tanks bringing up the rear.
The only thing this soundtrack lacked was a
strong LFE channel. My SV subwoofer showed very
little response even in the film's strong battle
sequences.
Special Features
I listened to a bit of the Feature Commentary
by Director John Madden. He gives insight into
coming to the island whose parts remained in rubble
from the earthquake in the 50s. He talks about how
some deviations were made from the book the film
was based upon, and why. To be honest, I found the
commentary to be quite uninteresting, mostly due to
the fact that Mr. Madden's monotone presentation is
very droll.
The Music Video for Russel Watson's
"Rocordo Ancor" is included along with a promo
spot for the film's soundtrack CD.
The film's original Theatrical Trailer is
also included.
Now here is where things get a little odd...
There is supposed to be additional material
on this disc that includes Production Notes
and a Cast & Filmmakers bio. The problem
is, I was not able to access it. There seemed to
be a glitch on my BONUS FEATURES MENU that would
not allow my remote cursor to access the arrow on
the lower right screen. I had the same problem
with a secondary DVD player I tried the disc upon,
so I am guessing there may be a defect issue here.
Final Thoughts
It seems as if Captain Corelli's Mandolin
was trying to pull off one of the greatest love
stories of our time. Unfortunately, it has fallen
greatly short of that. Somehow, I feel as if Cage
has been miscast in this role. Still, the film
remains well paced and very entertaining.
This is certainly a DVD worth renting. It contains
a superb performances from film veteran John Hurt.
May I also note that it's always worth watching a
film that shows brief nudity of Penelope Cruz, who
is just breathtakingly beautiful.
Available: February 5th, 2002
