How long have you been deaf in this ear?
Since as long as l can remember.
Shut up!
Keep still while the doctor is examining you.
l need a fish-hook...
about the right size for a mullet...
with a long shank, and a hammer.
A fish-hook? A hammer?
Here's a fish-hook... and a hammer.
Right. Now keep still.
A pea.
lt is very papilionaceous, is it not?
He must have stuck it in his ear when he was a child.
Oh, my God, it's loud.
l mean, everything is loud. My own voice is loud.
Your deafness is cured. A very satisfactory operation.
l've had an operation?
l'm the only person l know who's had an operation.
lt feels as if my whole head...
has filled up with spring water, all cold and clear.
Talk some sense when the doctor...
has been kind enough to cure you.
All these years thinking you are deaf.
But now there will be no excuses when l ask you to remember...
to collect something on your way home.
Or to stoke up the fire before we go to church.
Perhaps now you will hear me...
when l say to you, ''Mend the chair, Stamatis.
''Fix the leaking roof, Stamatis.''
And now l won't have to speak so loud...
Antonio, do you remember our island?
lt does not change.
On the feast day of Saint Gerasimos...
we still bring our sick to the holy place...
and pray that their suffering may cease.
When Pelagia was a child, l promised her...
that l would write a history of Cephallonia...
but somehow l still have not found the time.
l wanted her to understand how a land so peaceful...
could be shattered by earthquakes and war.
l wanted her to understand why sometimes the gods bless us...
and why they sometimes become angry...
and shake us, and fill our lives with pain.
l want her to learn the lesson that nature teaches us.
That we should not ask why we are wounded...
only if the wound can be healed.
A purely psychological phenomenon.
How do you explain the miracle?
Can Lenin cure the mad? Can Stalin heal the afflicted?
lt's obvious. lt's a set-up!
To keep people enslaved to religion.
You don't have to shout.
l'm not deaf.
l want to see the cannon again.
Cannon!
All right.
l will need stones from the street.
As many as you can find.
Be right back.
Ready, children?
Cover your ears.
That hurts!
Will he die?
Eventually, one of these days, like all of us.
Turn over.
Good, strong gluteals.
Pelagia.
Tell us about the gluteals.
Please, come closer. Have a good look.
Fetch your friends. Everybody's welcome.
Gluteals.
Maximus, medius, minimus.
The maximus is the external surface of the ilium...
between anterior and interior gluteal lines...
Mandras!
latre...
He'll be fine.
They told me you were shot. l thought l was going to die.
l don't know why you can't keep out of trouble!
l don't know!
latre, you should count yourself lucky you don't have a son.
Boys, they never grow up. Look at me.
Old before my time.
lt's too hot.
The fish are all hiding in the rocks...
or keeping cool at the bottom of the sea.
No! Put me down!
that a Greek battleship, the Eli...
has been torpedoed by an ltalian submarine...
despite the fact that Greece is not yet involved in the war.
Prime Minister Metaxas has protested strongly...
to Mussolini's government in Rome...
which has denied responsibility for the attack.
And there are continued reports of fighting...
between Greek and ltalian soldiers...
on the Greek-Albanian border.
But in Athens this morning...
the ltalian ambassador once again denied...
What are they saying?
The ltalians are in Albania, close to the border.
They have reported some fighting.
There! You hear that?
They are saying they are not about to declare war.
There. What did l say?
They want to catch us sleeping.
They want to creep up on us in the dead of night!
-You filthy liar! -Your father was a goat!
Shut up!
lf you two don't stop trading insults...
l'm going to start taking coffee at home.
Mandras wants to marry me.
l told him he'd have to ask you.
l don't want to marry him.
You don't like him.
You are both too young.
Everyone is too young when they marry.
l have often thought that you would...
only ever be able to marry happily...
with a foreigner.
A dentist from Norway...
...or something.
Mandras is not your equal, and he would expect...
to be better than his wife.
He is a man, after all.
l will tell you now what l will say to him.
l am not giving away a dowry.
Who marries without a dowry?
You should marry for love.
l love Mandras.
So what am l supposed to do?
Go off to Mandras's mother's house...
with nothing but a bag of clothes?
Oh, and my goat.
l'll never be able to show my face.
l'll be the laughing stock of Cephallonia.
You can imagine how people will talk.
l don't know how you will bear the shame.
There is going to be a war. Terrible things happen in wars.
Use this to defend yourself.
And, if necessary, use it against yourself.
Your marriage will have to wait.
l look around me.
l see fishermen. l see farmers.
l see strong, healthy men who are born free.
But today your freedom is in danger.
The ltalian Army sweeps through Albania...
and her troops get ready to cross the frontiers of Greece.
lf you care about your country...
then you must fight to defend her.
Join the war in Albania.
Fight for your mothers, your sweethearts...
your wives, your children.
Fight for the freedom for all Greek people...
to live their lives with dignity and respect!
When l come back from the war...
we will get married.
And l will build a house for Pelagia...
on the land that belonged to my father.
l know we are different.
l don't know about the world.
Where have l been? What could l know?
l don't know how to say what l feel inside.
l don't know how to tell you...
what is in here. But l think...
l know...Pelagia...
l love you.
Tomorrow l leave for the war.
Pelagia, come and dance with me.
l'll write. l promise.
And promise that you will write to me.
''My darling, you have not written...
''since that day l saw you off.
''And l am so terrified...
''that l am not getting any letters from you...
''because you have been wounded or taken prisoner.
''And l have nightmares that you are dead.''
''Summer has turned to winter...
''and l am writing my hundredth letter to you.
''The wounded who have returned...
''bring news of terrible conditions.
''Freezing cold, no food.
''But they bring no news from you.''
''Every day l wait for the mail from Argostoli...
''and every day there is nothing.
''And l feel as if l am going mad...
''with worry and fear. l try not to lose hope...
''but l long to feel something, even if it is only pain.''
We won!
lt's over!
We've beaten them in Albania.
Look!
8,000 of us against 14,000 ltalians...
and we forced them to withdraw.
What?
Hitler will never let his lapdog be humiliated.
He will come to Mussolini's aid.
''l have written this letter a dozen times...
''and a dozen times l have thrown it away.
''l don't know how to describe my feelings.
''lt's as if l've been waiting a hundred years...
''to hear from you.
''Waiting a hundred years for you to return.''
This is hopeless.
lt's all wrong!
Following the great defeat...
of the ltalians in Albania...
Hitler's bombers have counterattacked...
and the German Army has driven a path...
through to the Greek capital, Athens.
A large number of Greek ships were destroyed...
in the bombing of the nearby Port of Piraeus.
On April 27, the Athenian Military Commissioner...
General Calvacos, officially handed over the keys...
of the ancient city to his German counterpart...
Lieutenant Colonel Von Zephyr...
and preparations are underway for a carve-up of the territory.
Hitler retains direct control...
of much of northern Greece, including Salonica...
and the southern island of Crete.
The rest of Greece will be under the control...
of Hitler's ally, Mussolini...
though the Germans will retain the final authority.
Bella bambina at two o'clock!
Captain Corelli.
''Fuck off.''
Have him tell the mayor that unless we receive...
the surrender of the town's authorities in five minutes...
we'll mobilise our troops and storm the building.
The mayor says if you don't know what ''fuck off' means...
then come inside and we'll show you.
''We refuse to surrender to a nation...
''that we have defeated in Albania...
''and we reserve the right to surrender...
''to a German officer of significant rank.
''So fuck off.''
Who is this? Who are you?
Captain Gunter Weber.
Liaison officer with the Grenadiers at Lixouri.
''Captain'' is not what we would call a significant rank.
There are only 200 Germans...
on the island, and Captain Weber...
is the highest ranking officer amongst them.
Our decision is that surrendering...
to Captain Weber's dog is more appropriate...
than surrendering to an ltalian.
Carlo Guercio reporting for duty, sir.
-Carlo, where have you served? -Albania.
Albania?
None of us have seen any action yet.
l was with the Julia Division.
Then you have fought enough for all of us.
Carlo, can you sing?
Let's hear you sing.
No matter.
Everyone in our battery is a member of the opera society.
These are the rules of engagement.
One, all those called to regular musical fatigues...
shall be obliged to play a musical instrument.
Spoons, the helmet...
comb, paper, and so on.
Two, anyone who says...
that Donizetti is better than Verdi shall be required...
to sing ''Funiculi Funicula'' and other songs about railways.
Three...
This is an outrage! Quite impossible.
lt's out of the question.
Sir, the fact is, l'm sorry to say...
and with great regret, that my orders are...
to billet an officer in your home.
l am a doctor. This is my surgery.
l don't have room for guests!
-Sir, these are my orders! -l don't care!
l don't recognise your authority!
Wait a minute.
What is wrong with your feet?
l have terrible corns.
My boots are killing me.
You are a quartermaster.
You must have access to medical supplies.
To treat your corns, l will need morphine...
hypodermic syringes, sulphur ointment...
surgical spirit, neosalvarsan.
lodine, scalpels, cullodian...
bandages, lint.
Perhaps your officer could bring supplies...
when he comes.
My father is not here.
He'll be home this evening.
You don't even know who l am.
l walked all the way... from Epirus.
No boots.
l wrote to you every day.
A hundred letters.
And not a single reply.
l never learned...
to read or write.
Oh, Lord, what a stench. lt's worse than pigs.
You see, Pelagia, what a state these men get into...
when there are no women to look after them.
And l don't care if he's been to war.
lf we catch his fleas and lice, l'm going to skin him alive.
Ammonia, oil of sassafras, and zinc for scabies.
You're a woman, and you know so many things.
At least you can see what you are getting.
Not much of a bargain, is he?
You fall in love with the person, not the body.
Love enters by the eyes and also leaves by the eyes.
Take it from me.
We beat the ltalians. We had them running.
But we couldn't fight the Germans.
lf l could cook...
l would exchange jobs with you.
ln fact, l might retire.
Forgive me.
l don't mean to embarrass you.
l'm Captain Antonio Corelli...
and that man is one of our heroes.
He has a hundred medals for saving life...
and none for taking it.
A brave ltalian is a freak of nature.
Said like a true Greek patriot.
Captain Corelli?
l want a word with you. Now.
l want an explanation.
l want to know why you have defaced the monument.
What monument?
You have changed the inscription to Latin.
Do you think you can so easily erase our history?
ls this how you wage war? By the chipping away of letters?
l must protest.
You cannot protest. There is no excuse.
l was about to protest because l was not responsible for it.
Pathetic.
lf you could tell me where l'm going to sleep...
ln my daughter's room.
But where will your daughter sleep?
lt's none of your business where l sleep.
Tonight l'll sleep in the yard.
Tomorrow l'll request alternative accommodation.
l have made an arrangement with your quartermaster.
You are staying here whether you like it or not.
But your daughter's bed, l feel it would not be--
l don't care how you feel.
That is not my problem.
l am not the aggressor. You understand me?
This is very good.
This is Cephallonian meat pie.
Except that, thanks to you people...
it doesn't have any meat in it.
l could bring some food.
A little wine, perhaps some panettone.
We don't accept food from the enemy.
Maybe a little panettone.
l am going for a walk.
The curfew starts in one hour's time.
l was born here.
This is my island.
Aren't you going to go and arrest him?
He's defying you, ignoring the curfew.
You're absolutely right.
Quick, get the gun. Somebody shoot him.
Capitano Antonio Corelli.
Now you try.
Capitano Antonio Corelli.
Lemoni!
Babibaba Finono Kalikali.
What? Babibaba?
Go home.
Go on. You can come back later.
ln times of war, we have to make the most...
of what little innocent pleasure there is.
''l have started to make a waistcoat for you.
''Eagles and flowers, embroidered with gold thread.
''But l can't seem to get them to match up.
''One flower is much bigger.
''One eagle is in a different place from the other.
''And when l try to make them more even, it gets worse.
''l just can't get it right.''
You could kill him, you know.
He's the enemy. You could poison him.
No one would ever know how he died.
Dimitris and Spiros have both left to join the partisans.
They've gone by boat to Patra.
And who knows where from there.
l should be with them.
You're not going anywhere until you are strong again.
Read the last one.
The last letter you wrote before l came home.
''My darling, l've heard nothing from you...
''for such a long time...
''and l feel desperate and helpless...
''and l am burning my brains with worry.
''Yesterday l wrote you such a long letter...
''that said everything perfectly...
-''and believe it--'' -Listen.
l can't stay here.
You are drunk.
Yes, l confess.
We have been drinking, singing...
generally misbehaving.
l thought you were a soldier.
Captain Antonio Corelli, 33rd Regiment, Artillery...
reporting for duty!
ls everything a joke to you?
No. Not everything.
Captain Corelli, l think this would be...
a good time to hear you play the mandolin.
What on earth are you doing?
l was just about to start.
Well, about time, too, l should think.
The first 45 1/2 bars are for the orchestra.
You have to imagine the orchestra.
l'm damned if l can sit through all that tapping again.
Just play your part.
lf l do that, l'll start getting confused...
about when l'm supposed to come in...
and that, in a concert hall, would be a disaster.
l apologise for disrupting the concert.
l apologise to each and every one of you.
To those in the cheapest seats in the gods...
to Your Majesties in your royal boxes...
draped in your jewellery and your fine furs.
But l'm damned if l can imagine an orchestra.
l am going to bed.
ls this where the captain sleeps?
l was coming to see you.
l'm leaving, Pelagia.
ln the morning.
l'll take my boat to Astakos.
-lt's not safe. -l'm a fisherman.
l know those waters like the back of my hand.
l don't want you to go.
lf l die, l won't have died for nothing.
And if l live, l'll walk with my head held high...
for the rest of my life, and everyone will say...
''That's Mandras, who fought for his country in the war.''
l finished your waistcoat.
You can take it now if you want.
The two sides...
they are not the same.
The ltalian captain.
14,000 of you against 8,000 of us.
You could have driven us into the sea.
lf it weren't for your German friends, we would have.
My friends are the men in my battery.
People l grew up with. People of my home town.
So, what do you think of our island, Captain?
l like your island.
And what do you think of our girls?
What do you think of my Pelagia?
Good-bye, Pelagia.
My beautiful Pelagia.
Heil Hitler.
Heil Puccini.
l saw your party.
l thought l would come and introduce myself.
You mean, you saw the naked women...
and want to come and get a closer look.
We've met before.
The surrender at the town hall.
You are much better at having parties...
than you are at negotiating surrender.
Well, we're ltalian.
Famous for singing, eating, making love.
What's your name?
You Germans always have the best tobacco, huh?
How many of you are here now?
Approximately 1 ,200. Under Colonel Barge.
Here to keep an eye on us.
Doesn't it feel good to have your allies here?
l thought all you Nazis had blond hair.
l come from the Tyrol.
Grew up in the Austrian mountains.
All my family, and my family before them...
going back as far as we can remember, have dark hair.
Like Adolf Hilter?
You neglected to tell me your rank.
l am the breve.
Maximilliano here is the semibreve.
He is the minim.
Those boys are the crotchets and the quavers.
Piero here is the semiquaver.
And Carlo is the rest.
The pause between the notes.
ln the opera club, we have our own ranking system...
but otherwise l am a captain.
33rd Regiment of Artillery.
-Do you sing? -No, not really.
Well, maybe, you know.
On my own. ln the bath.
Well, have a drink. Be happy.
But just remember...
if you ever express admiration for Wagner...
you will be shot, without trial...
and without leave of appeal.
From the top!
Come on.
Are you going to shoot me?
lt wasn't loaded.
l've never aimed a gun at anybody.
Never in my life.
lt must be very difficult...
for you to have to put up with us.
lt must be very difficult...
for you to have to live with yourself.
You lie in the sun and swim in the sea...
and flirt with your prostitutes.
And there are people l know, people l grew up with...
who are fighting for their lives...
and dying for what they believe in.
And all you do is sing.
What's there to sing about?
We are in the middle of a war, not an opera house.
And you, you think you are so cultured...
with your pasta and your panettone...
and your puffed-up opera.
Why don't you take your holiday on somebody else's island?
What is there to sing about?
There is singing when babies are baptised...
when you celebrate a marriage.
Men sing as they work.
Soldiers sing as they march into battle...
and there is singing when people die.
l have always found something in life worth singing about...
and for that l cannot apologise.
For the fact that l've caused you pain...
l cannot apologise enough.
l have not been able to imagine, until now...
the offence l have given.
-What are those? -My things.
l can see that. Why?
l'm going to stay in the encampment with my men.
l think it will be best.
But you must understand...
l made an arrangement with your quartermaster.
We agreed the terms.
l would not feel comfortable...
letting him down.
Therefore, l think you should stay.
l don't think your daughter would agree.
My daughter understands the importance...
of honouring an arrangement.
l'll speak to the quartermaster.
Make sure you continue to get your medical supplies.
l've enjoyed meeting you.
l'm only sorry about the circumstances.
''Citizens of Cephallonia.
''ln these unfortunate and difficult times...
''let us show the world...
''how two ancient cultures can coexist...
''and behave in a civilised manner towards one another.
''Please join us in an evening of relaxation...
''as we extend the hand of friendship to you all.''
l'll be back in a moment.
My friend thinks you are very pretty.
Why doesn't he tell me himself?
He's too shy.
He wants to know if you'll dance with him.
No, l can't-- not with a German.
But tell him thank you.
Tell him l don't mean to be rude.
Don't stay up too late.
lt's Turkish.
From the Great War.
We should explode it.
The explosive must have decayed.
lt's been floating for about twenty years.
We could have put on a good show.
We are going to explode the bomb.
lt will be a fantastic explosion...
and when the time comes...
nobody must come down to the beach.
You must watch from where you are.
You must be one of the most stupid people l've ever met.
You wanted to show off so you nearly get us all killed.
l can see your lips moving...
but l can't hear a word you're saying.
lt should pass-- in a day or two.
Your father says it will pass in a day or two.
Does he?
ls that what the great doctor says?
What are you saying?
Are you saying how beautiful life is...
since the ltalians arrived?
All my life l've been waiting.
l don't know how l survived before you came.
Are you saying how much you missed having me around?
l miss you so much l can't sleep at night.
The other night when you were dancing...
the way you were moving...
The turn of your head.
l thought l could watch you forever.
You think you can come here...
and turn my whole world upside-down?
lodine.
Bandages.
Dressings. This is all l have.
l can't give you any morphine.
And we need all the quinine we have.
12,000 of our men on the mainland...
are sick with malaria.
Supplies are not getting through.
Nobody knows why, nobody knows what is happening...
and l'm going to eat.
You know, when l met Pelagia's mother...
she was betrothed to somebody else.
He nearly killed me.
l had to leave the island. l had to lie low for a while.
She wants to train to be a doctor, you know.
You think she'd make a good doctor?
l think she'd make a very good doctor.
Another thing.
This is a very ancient land...
and we have had nothing but earthquakes...
and slaughter for 2,000 years.
We've had massacres at Sami and Fiskardo...
and God knows where else.
There will be more.
lt's only a question of time.
So don't make any plans.
Bravo!
After the war, l'll leave it with you.
You're very sweet.
The Allies have landed in ltaly.
We can all go home then.
I can't believe it.
You really want this war to be over?
What is wrong with you ltalians?
We don't have your advantages, Gunther.
Advantages?
The advantage of thinking that...
other races are inferior to yours.
It's a question of science.
You can't alter a scientific fact.
I don't care about science.
It's morality that counts.
What is your morality?
If l were to see a man...
being set upon by others...
I would think that man was my brother.
That is my morality.
I would make myself believe it's personal.
For me, too, the war is personal.
I lost both my grandfathers in the Great War.
A war that you started.
And my father's brother, two of my mother's brothers.
I grew up in a country where it was hard to survive.