Captain Corelli's Mandolin

If Madden could convincingly morph Gwyneth Paltrow into a British boy for ”Shakespeare in Love,” he should have no trouble transforming Cage into an Italian army officer stationed in Greece during World War II. (Madden got the gig after the original director, Roger Michell, had a heart attack before filming began; Michell has since recovered.) Based on the 1994 novel by Louis de Bernières, the drama concerns the ill-fated romance between Captain Corelli and a Greek woman (Cruz) engaged to a fisherman (Bale). Think love triangle à la ”The English Patient,” with a shot of ouzo: Blissful setting notwithstanding, Bale confirms that the tale ”is really quite tragic.”

”Mandolin” was shot last summer on the Greek isle of Cephalonia, which had been so devastated by an earthquake in 1953 that the filmmakers were forced to build an entire village. Despite the costly construction, Madden insists ”the advantages of filming there hugely outweighed the legion of disadvantages. It was a kamikaze choice by Universal, since we were filming outside and there was nothing to do if the weather didn’t participate.” In fact, the summer heat was so stifling, Bale claims, ”the only thing moving on the set were the goats.”