VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

SnoopyStyle It's 1940 Greece. Cephallonia is an island of traditions. Pelagia (Penélope Cruz) is the daughter of Dr. Iannis (John Hurt) and girlfriend to childish fisherman Mandras (Christian Bale). Fighting breaks out between Greece and Italy. Mandras goes off to war vowing to marry Pelagia upon his return. The Axis forces march onto the island with no resistance. Italian Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage) and his men never fire a shot. Mandras returns terribly injured and then joins the partisans. Despite initial hatred, Pelagia falls for Corelli and his mandolin. Captain Günther Weber (David Morrissey) is the awkward German trying to befriend Corelli. When Italy surrenders, allegiances change.The Anglo-American lead actors strip away the Mediterranean heat. Cage is playing up the quirkiness unnecessarily. Bale can never pass for an islander. Everybody is doing an accent. There is no chemistry between anybody. Cruz is left with no worthy dance partner. There are no compelling relationships and the movie suffers. It's a warmed-up wartime period piece romance.

Python Hyena Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001): Dir: John Madden / Cast: Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, John Hurt, Christian Bale, David Morrissey: Mandolin refers to peace with hardship. If that is really the case, then I could have used one during the screening of this stupid charade. Nicolas Cage stars as Captain Corelli who arrives in town with his fellow German soldiers. He will house with a local doctor who is against the arrangement until they accommodate him with medical supplies. Then he asks, "Where will I sleep?" to which the doctor responds, "In my daughter's room." Then Cage asks the million dollar question, "And where will your daughter sleep?" She hisses, "It's none of your business where I sleep!" Such pitiful advertising, as if anyone cannot figure that out. Yes, they fall in love, war breaks out, tears are shed, blah, blah, blah. It's about as entertaining as a bag of horse crap. Similar to John Madden's superior Shakespeare in Love but doesn't contain his same skill. John Hurt as the doctor deserves better than this. Cage sounds dumb-ass stupid with that German accent, and his parading about for Cruz's affection is embarrassing. Penelope Cruz plays this obvious bimbo whom the audience can figure out long before she can get a clue. This is about as stupid as that pathetic Pearl Harbor was months earlier. War and romance presented with whorehouse clarity. Score: 2 / 10

buiger I found it to be a good movie, well written, acted and directed. This film has wonderfully developed characters and is based on a true story (at least the historical part). I agree with James Berardinelli that John Hurt was awesome as Dr. Iannis.This film proves that a movie can have a strong impact even (or especially) without utilizing any special effects. If only more of such character-driven dramas would be produced nowadays. On a slightly negative note: it would have been much more effective if it had been filmed in the original languages (greek, Italian and German) with subtitles, ...but the box office would probably not allow it.

rickhavoc1 I didn't read the book, so I didn't have expectations either way when I watched this movie. I bought the DVD as "previously viewed" because I like Nicolas Cage. I loved the movie myself, for several reasons. I'm an incurable romantic, so I loved the romance. I knew that the romance between Pelagia, (Penelope Cruz), and Madras, (Christian Bale), was doomed from the start, for the same reason stated by her father, (John Hurt). He just wasn't her intellectual equal. They would never have had a happy marriage. Plus, he demonstrated that he took her love for granted by not getting a literate friend to answer her letters. What an idiot! He just didn't deserve her. It's no wonder that she stopped loving him. It's also no wonder that, in spite of herself, she fell in love with a cultured, literate, music loving man like Captain Corelli, (Nicolas Cage). I also love location movies with majestic scenery. It's one of the things that make The Great Escape such a great movie. I'm also a military history buff, especially WWII history. I love it when I learn something new about WWII from a movie. That's another thing this movie has in common with TGE. It's reasonably historically accurate, (see the Wikipedia articles "Axis occupation of Greece in World War II" in the section "Nazi atrocities" and "Kefalonia" in the section "World War II"). It's a historical fact that the average Italian civilian or soldier had no great love for either Mussolini or Fascism. It's also a historical fact that the Nazis knew this, and so they didn't have much respect for the Italians. However, I hadn't known about how the Germans turned on the Italians like rabid dogs after Italy surrendered to the Allies. That said, it came as no surprise when it happened in the movie. It also didn't surprise me that Captain Weber, (David Morrissey), was sickened by the atrocity. It's another historical fact that the majority of German soldiers and sailors, both officers and enlisted men, weren't Nazis, and had no great love for those who were. With a few exceptions, most of the atrocities carried out by the German military were done by the SS, the concentration camp guards, or by special groups that were made up entirely of fanatical Nazis. Never forget that the German military was organized on the Prussian model, which emphasized strict obedience to superiors, and for officers, rigid adherence to their oaths. Which is why Hitler had the German officer corps swear an oath of personal allegiance to him after he came to power. To those who couldn't understand why the partisans hung the woman who showed affection to the German officer and didn't do the same to Pelagia, it was BECAUSE the woman showed affection to a German, and Pelagia fell in love with an Italian, who fought to resist the Germans in the end. Finally, to those who knock this movie because it's different from the book, SO WHAT? When is a movie adaptation EVER totally faithful to the book it's based on? Also I read in someone else's post that the author finally admitted that he didn't do enough research and got his facts wrong in his portrayal of the partisans. So, all in all these are the reasons I LOVE this movie, and I urge anyone who either hasn't read the book, or realizes that the movie isn't going to be a carbon copy of it, or has an interest in WWII history, or is an incurable romantic like me, to see this movie. 10/10