The English Patient (Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas)
When it was first released in 1996, it became very fashionable to discover Anthony Minghella's the English Patient, because it wasn't playing in many theatres. It was a long piece, released by Miramax, and took place in a desert -- in other words, it was destined to be nominated for best picture. Looking back on the 1997 Academy Awards, there could be little doubt its David Lean-esque look and feel would guarantee wins in many categories, but after having watched it again recently, I can't help but wonder if it deserved all of them. After all, the competition that year was particularly fierce; Fargo, Secrets & Lies, Shine, Breaking the Waves, the People vs. Larry Flynt, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Sling Blade, Trainspotting, Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, Lone Star, Looking for Richard, and even Jerry Maguire all could have given Patient a run for its money.
Still, this is an enriching effort. Canadian author Michael Ondaatje's novel is beautifully realized in this tale of mystery, war, and romance. The movie's title refers to Count Laszlo Almásy (Ralph Fiennes), who is horribly burned after a plane crash and suffers from amnesia. Under the care of a nurse named Hana (Juliette Binoche) he recalls, through a series of flashbacks, the tragic loss of his beloved Katharine (Kristin Scott Thomas). Willem Dafoe plays a thief who has come to kill the Count but realizes he does not have the full story, and Naveen Andrews plays Kip, a Sikh officer who defuses bombs and also finds himself falling in love with Hana. The movie is exquisitely paced, balancing the flashbacks with the subplot in the present at regular intervals. I actually prefer the subplot to the drawn-out affair between Fiennes and Thomas, mostly because Binoche is so thoroughly captivating and powerful in her performance as Hana.
My biggest complaint about the English Patient is the familiarity of some of its sequences. There is a ballroom dancing scene between the two leads, a scene where Kip has to diffuse a bomb and "pick a wire" at the last second, a scene where a drunken Almásy shows up at a dinner while Katharine's husband (Colin Firth) fumes in his seat, and so on. These are tired narrative devices, but thankfully in the adept hands of director Anthony Minghella, they don't come off as overly cliched. It also helps that, with the possible exception of Kristin Scott Thomas, all of the leads give exceptional performances.
There are several unforgettable scenes in the film. For me, the one that always comes to mind whenever I hear the film's title is when Almásy breaks into tears as he carries Katharine's limp body to and from a cave. Another memorable moment occurs when Caravaggio (Dafoe), Kip and Hana take Almásy's charred body outside on a stretcher, into the rain to celebrate the end of the war. There is also a furious African sandstorm that nearly buries a map-making expedition entirely.
While admittedly less of a fan of the English Patient now then I was when it first came out, I appreciate the meticulous work that is evident in its composition. Movies like this aren't as common today because studios are more reluctant to greenlight a project without big stars. That's a shame, because films like this are more passionate, intelligent and captivating than any Hollywood blockbuster that claims to be romantic.
