THE ENGLISH PATIENT (PG-13)
Director: Anthony Minghella
Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott Thomas,
Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, Colin Firth, Jurgen Prochnow, Julian Wadham, Kevin Whately, Lothaire Bluteau, Clive
Merrison, Peter Ruhring
Running Time: 163 minutes.
The English Patient has the sort of epic sweep and romantic grandeur that usually wins Oscars by the bucket load. Set against
the turbulent background of World War II, this visually seductive, handsome production deals with universal themes such as
love and passion, betrayal and heroism, guilt and redemption, and it not only looks superb, but is beautifully acted by a strong cast of
star.
British playwright and director Anthony Minghella, best known for the romantic comedy Truly, Madly, Deeply, makes a
quantum leap in both style and ambition with this near three hour long romantic melodrama adapted from Booker Prize winning
author Michael Ondaatje's lyrical but virtually unreadable novel. Minghella has intelligently reworked Ondaatje's complex
themes and unwieldy structure, giving the material an epic sweep reminiscent of the breath taking but emotionally sterile films of
David Lean. Minghella suffuses the material with a visual style and compassion that is compelling, and he slowly peels back
layer upon layer of sexual passion, infidelity, and betrayal, contrasting intimate personal moments with the broader exploration
of the horrors and frightening violence of war, which ultimately leaves deep emotional scars and psychological wounds.
The film begins in 1942, with a plane being shot down in flames over the desert and a badly burned body being dragged from
the wreckage by Bedouins. Three years later that badly burned mystery man is evacuated from a British hospital and shipped
to the relative safety of Italy. But it is obvious that this hideously burned and scarred mystery man, referred to only as "the
English patient" by the nursing staff, has only a limited life span remaining, and dedicated Canadian nurse Hana (Juliette
Binoche, from Three Colours Blue, etc) decides to minister to him in an abandoned monastery in the Tuscany region. Hana is
still trying to cope with the recent death of her fiancee, and caring for the badly burned mystery man during his last days at least
occupies her thoughts and distracts her from her personal pain and grief. Kip, a Sikh bomb disposal expert (played by Naveen
Andrews, from the BBC's The Buddha Of Suburbia) remains behind to protect her, and Hana briefly seeks comfort in his
arms. Also arriving at the monastery is the enigmatic Canadian David Carravagio (Willem Dafoe), a thief who lost both his
thumbs during a rather brutal Nazi interrogation after the fall of Tobruk. Carravagio has come to learn if the Almasy is a
murderer and a traitor, but even he is unprepared for the startling revelations from the dying and badly burnt man.
As Hana tends to the mysterious English patient a series of flashbacks detail his life and adventures in pre-war Cairo, and
explains how he came to be horribly burned and disfigured. The English patient is revealed to be the elusive, handsome
Hungarian count Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), a man with no territorial allegiances who was the co-leader of an
archaeological expedition in pre-W.W.II Cairo. In the refined splendour and luxury of Cairo, Almasy embarks on a torrid
affair with Katherine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas), the wife of the cold English pilot who accompanies the expedition. Their
stolen moments of happiness come to an abrupt end shortly after the outbreak of the war in Africa, when Almasy and
Katherine are forced to flee Cairo in a plane that is eventually shot down over the desert. The film contrasts the two very
different passionate love affairs that fuel this essentially melodramatic plot, and it also looks at how, sometimes, the power of
love is far more enduring than nations, wars or even the harsh and merciless desert itself.
Minghella draws intelligent and perceptive performances from a superb international cast who are equally as passionate in their
enthusiasm for the material. The English Patient provides us with two strong and passionate female characters, played with
warmth and sensuous grace by both Binoche and Thomas. In particular, Thomas is quite strong in her Oscar nominated role as
the beautiful but doomed Katherine, and her nicely understated performance mixes warmth, and intelligence with the right
amount of guilt and emotional confusion. Fiennes is superb as the tortured and complex Almasy, and, while his rich and
textured performance is not as memorable as his sadistic Nazi commandant in Schindler's List, he manages to bring dignity,
intelligence and a poignant humanity to the role.
Australian cinematographer John Seale's magnificent and richly evocative wide screen lensing captures the stunning vistas of
the Sahara desert and the beautiful Tuscany hillsides, giving the film the look and feel of an old fashioned epic.