Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz Director: John Madden Rated: R, with violence, sex and nudity Length: 127 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(August 17, 2001) -- Like a folk ballad plucked on a mandolin, the new Nicolas Cage-Penelope Cruz film is sometimes overly familiar, even a bit maudlin, but still touchingly romantic. And more often than not, this old-fashioned love song is mostly played on pitch and in tempo.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin finds director John Madden turning from the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love to detail a young woman's passion for an occupation soldier on a Greek island during World War II.

Cruz is Pelagia, the loveliest girl on the Ionian island of Cephallonia. Cage is Antonio Corelli, the opera-loving captain of the Italian squadron that occupies her island. Pelagia is engaged to a young Greek patriot (Christian Bale) and looks upon the Italians as enemies.

But the tender-hearted and gregarious Corelli manages to win her heart with a song on the mandolin. It helps that he treats the Greek villagers with respect -- and shares medical supplies with Pelagia's father, the village doctor (John Hurt).

The madness of love is soon overshadowed by the insanity of war as their idyll becomes a battleground.

That's the patently romantic set-up of Madden's gorgeous -- if mildly flawed -- film based on the highly regarded novel by Louis de Bernieres. The film traces Pelagia's saga, from the pre-occupation days when she's courted by the rough-hewn, passionate Mandras (Bale), to the arrival of the Italians, to the more ominous presence of the Nazis, who take over after the fall of Mussolini.

As is often the case when a sprawling novel is converted into a two-hour film, Captain Corelli's Mandolin suffers from compression. Events fall too fast upon one another, and an earthquake sequence near the end is treated so off-handedly, it might as well have been dropped.

Shawn Slovo's script maintains its focus on the Pelagia-Corelli romance, while adequately detailing the complex political and military action.

Cage makes a charismatic Corelli, leading his men in playful Verdi sing-alongs and demonstrating considerable heart with everyone he encounters. He's easy to like or, in Pelagia's case, to love.

Cruz is not given much to do beyond myriad shots of her walking through the fields, picking up items for the wicker basket that seems permanently attached to her hip. However, she conveys considerable feeling through facial expressions and her emotive eyes.

Bale is moderately effective in the sometimes-thankless role of "the other man." He projects Mandras' patriotic convictions and undying affection for Pelagia, yet is sometimes overly earnest.

But viewers will most remember Hurt's touching and evocative performance as Pelagia's father, the venerable Dr. Iannis. As the film's wise and perceptive Greek chorus, he narrates the tale and advises his daughter.

One of the best actors on the planet, Hurt has seldom been as memorable -- and deserves Oscar consideration next spring. Hurt gives this old-fashioned, somewhat-uneven romance its authentic heart.