Nicholas Cage plays Captain Antonio Corelli, an Italian
officer who would rather sing, play the mandolin, and frolic on the beach than fight in a
war. He makes no apologies for that and expects others to accept it. He leads a group of
soldiers in World War II as they occupy a small Greek island that is, essentially, an
innocent place where time seems to stand still. It’s here where he meets and falls in
love with Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), a bright young girl whose father (John Hurt) is
bringing her up to be a doctor like himself. At first Pelagia despises Corelli, mainly
because he is the enemy and she detests his playful demeanor in a time of such pain for
the people on the island. Eventually she grows to love him. The problem is that she is
already engaged to Mandras (Christian Bale), a Greek man who lives on her island and is a
soldier in the Greek army. Always watching from the side is Pelagia’s father, the
town doctor who believes that for her to have a happy marriage she will have to find a man
who’s her equal -- probably foreign and definitely not Mandras.
Cage is fine in his role, but he struggles with his Italian accent and plays Corelli
with too much sleepy-eyed innocence. A stronger, more assertive presence is needed because
the attraction between him and Pelagia just isn’t that convincing. It isn’t that
Cage is bad in this role, but he could have been better. Bale really has the worst role,
and it’s hard to determine if he is cruel and inconsiderate or brave and determined.
Perhaps parts of his character that would have explained more were edited out, or perhaps
he simply could not figure out how Mandras was to come across. Whatever the case, it shows
on screen. Unlike some previous movies, Cruz has a good role. She ends up being the glue
that holds this movie together. Praise also goes to John Hurt. The father/daughter bond
between him and Pelagia is far more convincing than the relationship between her and
Corelli. As a result, the understanding between the two is the most compelling part of
this film. There is a well-done scene where Mandras makes a joke at Pelagia’s expense
in front of a large group of people. Cruz effectively shows her embarrassment and pain,
but, in a subtle way. Hurt does too from a distance. It’s a touching and effective
scene that is, unfortunately, never really matched again in this film. Cage and Cruz never
conjure up the same type of emotion.
But it’s not the casting that’s the biggest problem; it’s the uneven
editing that happens in the latter part. I did not like director John Madden’s Shakespeare
in Love like the rest of the world, but I did admire the flowing, almost whimsical
style that he kept consistent throughout. Here things get choppy and uneven, and it’s
at the expense of the story. By the time the Greeks and Italians and Germans are all
waging war on each other, it’s hard to tell who is who and just why certain things
are happening. It’s as if a three-plus hour movie got haphazardly cut to something
just over two (not unlikely). In the end, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin becomes a
decent but flawed epic. It’s still worth seeing, but ends up deserving only a ***
rating.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is somewhat successful and manages to
paint a gorgeous film portrait that has all the makings of a great epic love story. It
looks splendid, and the cinematography is really outstanding. However, it falls down from
two things: poor casting and uneven editing.