It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the Greek Island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is sotracized by the locals, but as a conscientious but far from fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he proves in time to be civilized, humurous- and a consummate musician. When the local doctor`s daughter`s letters to her fiancee- and members of the underground- go unanswered, the workings of the eternal triangel seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial svagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender?