Take heed: this movie reeks.
I saw this one by chance. I had gone to see Antitrust, but since Antitrust was
so staggeringly awful that it left me dazed and fearing for the future of
humanity, I felt I had to see another movie to at least partially restore my
sanity. There was a massive queue for Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which is
based on some poncy novel by Louis de Bernierres and directed by Shakespeare in
Love's John Madden. It's a largely fictionised history of Cephalonia, a Greek
island which was invaded by the Italians during the Second World War, with the
help of their German friends. The movie centres on the romance of Nic Cage and
Penelope Cruz, who unfortunately have the sexual chemistry of a oil painting
and a brick.
The casting, and then the accents that the poor saps attempt, are positively
bizarre . I honestly don't know which was funnier: Englishmen as Greeks (John
Hurt and Christian Bale), Spaniards as Greeks (Penelope Cruz), or Nicolas Cage
as a sensitive and music loving Italian. The movie is extremely long or at
least seems so because very little happens. Fortunately I managed to sleep
through part of it.
(no stars)
The Players: |
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Nicolas Cage as Captain Antonio
Corelli |
Written by Ed in May 2001