Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Love crosses enemy lines as a simple Greek woman falls for an eccentric Italian captain during the climax of World War II in John Madden's bittersweet treatment of Louis de Bernieres' 1994 novel. Pelagia (Penelope Cruz) lives in a small provincial island town in Greece where her days are filled with such innocent pleasures as following her father's footsteps into the medical field and celebrating her engagement to a local fisherman (Christian Bale). However, once notorious world leaders wreak havoc, Pelagia's sheltered lifestyle is flipped upside-down as her fiancé leaves for the war with extreme patriotic gusto, war tanks and artillery flood the formerly peaceful town square, and a sworn nemesis (Nicholas Cage) with impressive charm and musical talents enters her home and heart. Despite this seventh-grade history lesson, the acclaimed director of Shakespeare in Love affectionately ponders the moralities of trust, friendship and love.