A better tune than I had expected

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 2001)

This is a real "old-fashioned" love story. However, it has an unusual and interesting background, being set on one of the Greek islands during first the Italian, and the German occupation during World War II.
There has been some criticism of the fact that some of the events relating to Italy's departure from the Axis are not presented accurately. But the basic fact remains the same; the Germans occupied the areas held by the Italians at the time of their departure. This is, after all, entertainment, and not a treatise on Italy's role in World War II.
As well, the variety of accents in the film, from Penelope Cruz's Spanish accent to the vaguely Italian one of Nicholas Cage, has been criticized. However, unless one is prepared, where one is making films with a non English-speaking setting, to use just native speakers as actors (in this case, Greek, Italian and German) with subtitles for all, there is no good solution for the problem. The results here are as good as can be expected, and a lot better than I have seen elsewhere.
The whole thing makes me wonder to what extent I should trust reviewers. A few weeks ago, having read glowing reports, I went to see "Sexy Beast", and loathed it. As far as I was concerned, it was just the largely incomprehensible rantings of a sociopath, and more incomprehensible talk from his unpleasant associates. I went to see this film having read that I should be prepared to dislike it, instead, I enjoyed it thoroughly.