Captain Corelli revisited

By Ileana von Hirsch, September 9th 2013

  

The cool Greek Alpine Ski corps – complete with cigarette

“The real star of the film of course was Cephalonia itself,” said Susie Pugh Tasios, the producer of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin which I watched again last night. Susie died last year of cancer, and is dreadfully missed by her friends and family. I remember the gusto with which she spilled the beans about the crises of filming –  Nicholas Cage’s hairdresser dramas, getting the Greek airforce to send old planes over without alarming the Turks, the day all the extras walked out as the left-leaning ones objected to the role written for the left-wing Partisans, while the right -leaning ones objected to the left-leaning ones objecting.. I believe she drafted in Albanian workers who didn’t give a damn either way…

Speaking of Albania, I found a photo of my father as a soldier in the 1940 war in Albania between the Greeks and the Italians – the prelude to Captain Corelli – As a seasoned St Moritz ski-er, he was the ski teacher of the Greek ski troops in the mountains there. He was immensely proud of two things – a watch that  was given to him by the one prisoner they took, an Italian soldier who had been sent to the front for being a communist economist at the University of Bologna, and a medal he got for being in hospital for frostbite got while fishing in a stream.

Cephalonia, or Kefalonia as it is now called, shone with undimmed loveliness  – the beach at Myrto, Antisamos beach, views over to Ithaca,  and the fabulous reconstruction of pre-earthquake Argostoli – the film set was a huge draw for Cephalonians who brought their old folk and children to see  what the town had looked like in the old days – I saw many old faces with tears running down their cheeks as memories flooded back.

 
 
 

One of Susie’s stills from the film set

 Still from the film set

Myrtos beach – the star of the film

Still from the film set

About the author

Ileana von Hirsch

Ileana lives in London, is married to a Bavarian, and comes from an old shipping family from the Greek island of Ithaca. ileana@fivestargreece.com

Leave a Comment

As seen in...

As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In
As Seen In

Share