1908: Pascali, a spy for the Sultan, sends reports to Istanbul that nobody reads. His suspicions are roused when a British archaeologist appears, who may not be quite what he seems.
It is a mood piece, meditative, in which even the melodrama of the plot grows out of the flawed souls of the characters. Everything in a film like this depends on performance, and it is hard to imagine how it could have been better cast.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
A literary adaptation that takes itself so seriously one longs for Gilligan and the Skipper.
– Rita Kempley,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Slow and stately, Pascali's Island never gets beneath its own superficial gentility.
– Caryn James,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
The milieu may seem remote but the performances illuminate, and the story has an originality that compensates for the modest budget.
– Derek Adams,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
Despite an eye-catching but mannered central performance from Ben Kingsley, looms as too languid and remote to make much impact.