The story takes place during the Italian occupation of Greece during WW2. At first Captain Corelli and his troops are treated with contempt by the islanders but it soon becomes obvious that the two nationalities have much in common and a friendship forms between occupiers and occupied. Into this unlikely scenario is added the love that has blossomed between the Captain and beautiful young islander, Pelagia, but the idyll is soon to be shattered by the harsher realities of war. Captain Corelli's Mandolin is taken from Louis De Berniere's book of the same name and does little justice to the original novel, but if you ignore its origins the film is an enjoyable and lush romantic drama.