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Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Universal // R // February 5, 2002
List Price: $26.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Cinematographer John Toll is one of the best in his field. With award-winning work in "Braveheart" and "Legends of the Fall" and award-worthy work in "The Thin Red Line", "Almost Famous" and elsewhere, Toll can be counted on to provide beautiful imagery, often mixed with an underlying sense of impending drama. With "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", he again succeeds in taking currently beautiful locations in Greece and making them appear even more perfect. Unfortunately for the filmmakers, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is (quite) a bit more scenery than story; it's easy to be taken in by the images, but I found it hard to be involved with the characters.
The film is based on Louis de Bernières's novel, which I've never read and have barely heard of, except for a few stray positive comments. Yet, it apparently gained enough popularity to be adapted into this feature. If the novel is as good as I've heard, then something has been lost in the translation. Cage stars as the Captain of the title, one of a force that occupies a stunningly beautiful Greek Island during WWII. When he spots Pelagia (Cruz), the Captain is instantly in love - she doesn't want anything to do with him, at first.
And, so it goes. The first hour of this picture seems to simply be wandering, as the two make small chatter as she starts to fall more for him than her current plan for a husband, Mandras (a badly miscast Christian Bale). Bale's character is so thinly written as to be almost unnecessary, while the film takes hardly any time to set up the romance between the Cage and Cruz characters; as a result, not only do the two share chemistry, their romance simply isn't very believable.
To make matters worse, Nicholas Cage is wrong for Corelli; either that, or he simply made a very wrong choice trying to do an Italian accent. While there have been some bad accents in film lately (see Costner in "13 Days"), none have been quite so hilarious as Cage's awful attempt at Italian, which is consistently goofy and absurd. After director John Madden displayed such a remarkable touch with light comedy in "Shakespeare in Love", it's suprising to see him let Cage go over-the-top to such a silly level. Cruz isn't bad, but she doesn't make much of an impression in the role.
The second half shifts quickly from a rather goofy romantic comedy/drama to a very serious picture as the war begins. This dramatic second half isn't entirely effective, but at least it does bring some intensity to a movie that had previously been progressing at an extremely slow pace. Overall, Shawn Slovo's screenplay seems mostly to blame, as we don't get enough character details about any of the lead or supporting players; feelings and events are generally summed up by Big Speeches, many of which will likely sound familiar, as they've been heard in some form in many other films.
"Captain Corelli's Mandolin" could certainly have been a better film. There's a lot of talent involved, both on-screen and behind-the-scenes, but I didn't sense that all of the on-screen talent were right for their roles. Even so, this gathering of talent is working in service of a screenplay that is fair at best and decidedly weak at worst, with little development of character. Watching the film made me want to go read the book to see how much of this material has been lost in the transition from page-to-screen.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is presented by Universal in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. As previously noted, the cinematography of the film is stunning, as is the scenery. Thankfully, the studio has done a fine job in presenting Toll's work here. Sharpness and detail are solid, as the picture appears crisp and well-defined throughout.
The picture seemed almost entirely free of flaws. There were a few trace instances of edge enhancement that were noticable in a scene or two, but even these instances were generally minor and not irritating. No pixelation was spotted and the print - as one would expect from a new movie - was extremely clean; I didn't even spot any specks or other marks. Colors looked positively radiant, appearing well-saturated, warm and rich. This is a very enjoyable presentation and one of Universal's better recent efforts.
SOUND: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is presented in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio. The first hour of the film really offers no need for audio fireworks, so the majority of the sound remains in the front speakers. While I would have appreciated some additional ambient sounds during the many early outdoor sequences, the surrounds oftens simply add light touches of score. As the battle sequences begin in the second half, the planes flying overhead and other sounds of war do start to provide a more agressive sound experience, although even these scenes aren't as impressive as scenes in other recent war movies such as "Enemy at the Gates", "Thin Red Line" or "Pearl Harbor". Audio quality was enjoyable, as the score came through crisply, while dialogue sounded clear and easily understood, even with some of the accents. There isn't much bass to the proceedings, though.
MENUS: Basic main and sub-menus using film-themed images. Slight music is played behind the main menu.
EXTRAS: Director John Madden provides a subdued and occasionally just plain silent commentary track. There are some interesting points made about the production on occasion, but there's a lot to go through to get to them. There's a point or two where he discusses features that are going to be on the DVD, but apparently didn't make the final cut, as they're nowhere to be found. Music video, trailer (in 5.1), production notes, cast/crew bios and DVD-ROM features round out the DVD.
Final Thoughts: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" has a few moments and a decent performance from Penelope Cruz, but it suffers from very mediocre character development, a slow pace - especially during the first hour - and Nicholas Cage's awful (yet hilarious) accent. Universal's DVD, on the other hand, is basic but very nice. The image quality is excellent and does justice to John Toll's picture-perfect images, while the sound is appropriate, considering the material. Supplements are minimal, but may be worth a quick look. Lightly recommended as a rental.
Cinematographer John Toll is one of the best in his field. With award-winning work in "Braveheart" and "Legends of the Fall" and award-worthy work in "The Thin Red Line", "Almost Famous" and elsewhere, Toll can be counted on to provide beautiful imagery, often mixed with an underlying sense of impending drama. With "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", he again succeeds in taking currently beautiful locations in Greece and making them appear even more perfect. Unfortunately for the filmmakers, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is (quite) a bit more scenery than story; it's easy to be taken in by the images, but I found it hard to be involved with the characters.
The film is based on Louis de Bernières's novel, which I've never read and have barely heard of, except for a few stray positive comments. Yet, it apparently gained enough popularity to be adapted into this feature. If the novel is as good as I've heard, then something has been lost in the translation. Cage stars as the Captain of the title, one of a force that occupies a stunningly beautiful Greek Island during WWII. When he spots Pelagia (Cruz), the Captain is instantly in love - she doesn't want anything to do with him, at first.
And, so it goes. The first hour of this picture seems to simply be wandering, as the two make small chatter as she starts to fall more for him than her current plan for a husband, Mandras (a badly miscast Christian Bale). Bale's character is so thinly written as to be almost unnecessary, while the film takes hardly any time to set up the romance between the Cage and Cruz characters; as a result, not only do the two share chemistry, their romance simply isn't very believable.
To make matters worse, Nicholas Cage is wrong for Corelli; either that, or he simply made a very wrong choice trying to do an Italian accent. While there have been some bad accents in film lately (see Costner in "13 Days"), none have been quite so hilarious as Cage's awful attempt at Italian, which is consistently goofy and absurd. After director John Madden displayed such a remarkable touch with light comedy in "Shakespeare in Love", it's suprising to see him let Cage go over-the-top to such a silly level. Cruz isn't bad, but she doesn't make much of an impression in the role.
The second half shifts quickly from a rather goofy romantic comedy/drama to a very serious picture as the war begins. This dramatic second half isn't entirely effective, but at least it does bring some intensity to a movie that had previously been progressing at an extremely slow pace. Overall, Shawn Slovo's screenplay seems mostly to blame, as we don't get enough character details about any of the lead or supporting players; feelings and events are generally summed up by Big Speeches, many of which will likely sound familiar, as they've been heard in some form in many other films.
"Captain Corelli's Mandolin" could certainly have been a better film. There's a lot of talent involved, both on-screen and behind-the-scenes, but I didn't sense that all of the on-screen talent were right for their roles. Even so, this gathering of talent is working in service of a screenplay that is fair at best and decidedly weak at worst, with little development of character. Watching the film made me want to go read the book to see how much of this material has been lost in the transition from page-to-screen.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is presented by Universal in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. As previously noted, the cinematography of the film is stunning, as is the scenery. Thankfully, the studio has done a fine job in presenting Toll's work here. Sharpness and detail are solid, as the picture appears crisp and well-defined throughout.
The picture seemed almost entirely free of flaws. There were a few trace instances of edge enhancement that were noticable in a scene or two, but even these instances were generally minor and not irritating. No pixelation was spotted and the print - as one would expect from a new movie - was extremely clean; I didn't even spot any specks or other marks. Colors looked positively radiant, appearing well-saturated, warm and rich. This is a very enjoyable presentation and one of Universal's better recent efforts.
SOUND: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is presented in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio. The first hour of the film really offers no need for audio fireworks, so the majority of the sound remains in the front speakers. While I would have appreciated some additional ambient sounds during the many early outdoor sequences, the surrounds oftens simply add light touches of score. As the battle sequences begin in the second half, the planes flying overhead and other sounds of war do start to provide a more agressive sound experience, although even these scenes aren't as impressive as scenes in other recent war movies such as "Enemy at the Gates", "Thin Red Line" or "Pearl Harbor". Audio quality was enjoyable, as the score came through crisply, while dialogue sounded clear and easily understood, even with some of the accents. There isn't much bass to the proceedings, though.
MENUS: Basic main and sub-menus using film-themed images. Slight music is played behind the main menu.
EXTRAS: Director John Madden provides a subdued and occasionally just plain silent commentary track. There are some interesting points made about the production on occasion, but there's a lot to go through to get to them. There's a point or two where he discusses features that are going to be on the DVD, but apparently didn't make the final cut, as they're nowhere to be found. Music video, trailer (in 5.1), production notes, cast/crew bios and DVD-ROM features round out the DVD.
Final Thoughts: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" has a few moments and a decent performance from Penelope Cruz, but it suffers from very mediocre character development, a slow pace - especially during the first hour - and Nicholas Cage's awful (yet hilarious) accent. Universal's DVD, on the other hand, is basic but very nice. The image quality is excellent and does justice to John Toll's picture-perfect images, while the sound is appropriate, considering the material. Supplements are minimal, but may be worth a quick look. Lightly recommended as a rental.
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