Rating: 
Summary: Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Review: I thought this movie was very close to being a masterpiece. [...] it was kind about the Italian's involvment in World War Two! Although I am aware that the events in the film were based on actual occurrences. The music was excellent, especially the Mandolin (which I'm told Nicolas Cage played himself.) One thing I enjoyed was that even though it was a war film it did not include the Americans, and I feel that is a refreshing change! All in all its a good film that captures the Italian lust for life, music and love but also the horrors of World War Two.
Rating: 
Summary: Good depiction of the war in Cephalonia
Review: Enjoyed the movie very much. John Hurt played an exceptional role, as did Penelope Cruz. The movie was kind to the role of the Italians in the War. Nicholas Gage played a good role but hard to picture him as an Italian. Although he played one in "Moonstruck" also, but there he was an American -Italian. The scenery was beautiful and really enjoyed the music and especially the tango that Ms. Cruz danced. All in all very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: I see an Oscar coming!
Review: I was waiting for this movie all year and I was very excited to go and watch it last night. And it turned out to be a MASTERPIECE.The movie drives you through light comedy with the arrival of the Italian army to a Greek Island, through the beauty and simplicity of the peaceful villagers. Then a love story develops between an engaged woman (Penélope Cruz) and an Italian captain Nicolas Cage. A love that has so many contradictions and barriers as the ugly face of war threatens the survival of innocent souls' and their love! I can't say enough about this GREAT movie' but if you are into romance, why on earth would you miss watching this movie?!!
Rating:
Summary: A Motion Picture for all.
Review: I was taken to this film by a close friend with no real expectations about it. I was so surprised and moved by this motion picture. Its depiction of Greek island life in a land untouched by time is wonderful. My whole thinking through out the movie was that the whole thing was fictional and that the events and places were of an author's imagination. I was so surprised to learn that not only was there a real Celephonia, but the massacres of Italian troops depicted actually occurred. It's something that apparently wasn't covered in my history class to my shock and horror. This is a story of a beautiful world, timeless and unchanging, that is invaded by the horrors of the outside. Nicholas Cage is such a delightful character in his depiction of Captain Corelli. His Corelli is an true Italian man, full of life and music and love. His character is one unused to war and seems like he wouldn't know what to do with a firearm. His love and passion for Pelagia is a real and tangible feeling. There is one scene, which I will never forget and should win Cage the Oscar in which he gazes with love and longing for Pelagia asleep on the sofa. One cannot gaze into those eyes and not be forever changed. He learned to play the Mandolin for this role and did it with such perfection that Irene Papas was said to have been moved to tears. Penelope Cruz's Pelagia is something to behold. I have come to associate this actress with glamour, not peasantry. She is so flowing and beautiful as a peasant girl that I forgot the glamour. She was beautiful in a different way and showed this wonderful beauty on the screen to its fullest. As always, I am delighted to see John Hurt on the screen and his narrative provided the bridge to all the worlds we encounter. His depiction of the grizzled island doctor is one which gives the film a spirit and wonder. His lecture to Pelagia on how love is a temporary madness is so to the point that for that alone, it is worth seeing the film. The scenes with him are filled with a wonderful sense of humor, and are a delight to behold. As a big fan of music in film I must complement Stephen Warbeck on his excellent score for this movie and a delightful difference from the usual Hollywood fare. His score is a fresh face on the scene in a landscape populated by the trite and repeated. This is a movie to take your girl to see and you will enjoy it too.
Rating:
Summary: Stole my Heart
Review: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" was so much better than the reviews.
Nicolas Cage had some difficulty with his Italian accent,but aside from that played his role superbly. Penelope Cruz and John Madden were equally as good. The music was wonderful and I have already bought the soundtrack.
I have seen the movie twice and enjoyed it more the second time. Can hardly wait for it to come out on DVD so I can buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Captain Corelli's Mandolin:True to fact
Review: Captain Corelli's Mandolin, the movie, is based on historical facts. The Italian troops did invade the Greek Ionian Islands, which the Italy of Mussolini eyed: Corfu, Lefkada, Paxoi, Zakynthos, Ithaka, Cepahllonia, and Kythira--the Seven Islands as they are called, the jewels of the Ionian Sea. These islands have a long history of cultural mixtures, and they were occupied by the Venetians for meany centuries. The two cultures, Italian and Greek, are bound together by traditions and similarities--love of music, for instance. Directors and writers explore these similarities quite subtly and knowledgeably. When Captain Corelli arrives with his Italian contingent as an occupation force in Cephallonia, after the Greek army was overrun by the Germans in 1941, the local Greeks who could not stomach the fact that the very Italians they had defeated in Albania were now occupying their hometown greet him with jeers. But Corelli is not upset by the insult to his honor; he is not a fighting man. He understands the cultural ties with the people he is subjecting and behaves as a friend, bringing with him an infectious spirit of humanity and zest for life that equals that of the locals. A local doctor recognizes Corelli as a kindred spirit and invites him to live in his house, thus unwittingly encouraging a romance between him and his daughter Pelagia. Greeks and Italians sing together (and this did happen during the war), and dance at a local event, Pelagia dancing a western dance with an Italian officer. For a moment at least, culture seems to have won over war. However, though the movie is close to the facts, what happened during those years in those islands cannot be captured in one movie. The executions shown in the movie were everyday events, not all the Italians were so civilized, and there were no good Nazis. The war was a big mess--a big, ugly war that lasted over four years. The movie, despite its humanitarianism and romantic slogans, could not avoid the pitfalls of sentimentality, so known to moviemakers who take on tough subjects. Still, the movie has Cepahllonia, one of the jewels of the Ionian, an island that has seen a lot of strangers climbing up its rocks since the days of Odysseus. This is a good movie--for the mind and the heart are right--despite some shortcomings of history, shortcomings that manage not become an insult.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Movie!!!!!!
Review: I just came home from seeing this movie, and I loved it. I am not
a Nicholas Cage fan, but his presence didn't ruin the
movie for me, and although I don't want to admit it, I thought
he did a good job with his role, even though my friend who took
me to see it thought he was miscast and unbelievable.
The rest of the cast is also great, the scenery breathtaking,
the storyline interesting, and the music intoxicating.
I was sorry that it ended, it is the best movie I have seen
in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: sad, happy, love, humor and war...
Review: all rolled into one. I wasn't sure if I would have liked this movie, it wasn't one that I had on my list to see. I was clearly mis-informed about what the movie was about (didn't realize that it had to deal with war...thought it was just a mushy love story). A friend of mine suggested to see the flick. We did and I 'enjoyed' it. The love between Greek woman and an Italian man (Cage does it well...him and Cruz has good on screen chemistry) during the mist of a war. Humor all over the film which makes a sad story of war, into a watchable one. I highly recommend this movie. Be warned that it is a love story based on war (WWII), but with the romance and humor, it's a nice flick. Both for men, women and couples!!
Rating:
Summary: Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Review: This movie will put you through a wide range of emotions. You forget it is a love story in places because of the historical value.
Rating:
Summary: The ¿Caged¿ bird must sing
Review: and he does so very well. Joy of heart, romance, old world values, cinematography that will send many to their travel agents, and war, to add to the serene existence that will all too soon be shattered. This movie has something for everyone. Nicholas Cage does a fantastic job of portraying the happy go lucky Italian, Corelli a lover not a fighter, who's idea of war is a break in his operatic harmony. Penelope Cruz, the daughter of the local doctor and in training for said profession is initially annoyed by his jovial manner and lackadaisical ways. The two are fated by the urgency of a war that will tear them apart. I enjoyed this movie immensely and would recommend it to all of my friends. There is something here for men and women, always an important point for the choice in movies on a Friday night out. Kelsana 8/29/01
| 
