With only the experience of a few films behind him, English director Anthony Minghella took on, in 1994, what must have seemed like a daunting task, when he agreed to try to draft a screenplay from Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient, which was more like a sprawling set of elliptical poetic musings than a conventional linear narrative. Two years later, nine Oscar trophies testified that Minghella had succeeded in large measure.

Historical Background: Anthony Minghella, born January 6th, 1965 in Isle of Wight, England, found his career work as a playwright, screenwriter, and director. In his stage work, he won a Best Play award from the London Theatre Critics for Made in Bangkok (1986). Minghella worked for a while with puppeteer Jim Henson, before turning to directing with his debut feature film, Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991). Minghella followed with Mr. Wonderful (1993) and then the present film in 1996. For The English Patient, Minghella served as both screenwriter and director. Since his triumph with The English Patient, Minghella has directed The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, followed by Cold Mountain (2003). Minghella currently has one project in post-production (Breaking and Entering) and another recently announced (The Ninth Life of Louis Drax).

The Story: The story of The English Patient is told in an elliptical manner, opening and closing with the same plane crash, involving an open cockpit biplane of World War II vintage. On board are a man, Count Laszlo de Almásy (Ralph Fiennes), and a woman, Katharine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas). The rest of the film details, through a combination of flashback and narrative progression, the circumstances by which these two people came to be on that plane together, flying low over the desert of North Africa. The badly burned Almásy is pulled from the wreckage by Bedouin tribesmen and is ultimately delivered to a British medical unit. There he receives morphine injections and the tender care of nurse Hana (Juliette Binoche). Almásy is scarred beyond recognition and claims to have lost all memory of who he is or what happened to him. He is slowly dying as his lungs collapse a bit more each day. It is 1944. The military situation shifts precariously, forcing the medical unit to pull up stakes and move. When the front truck strikes a landmine, Hana's current lover, Jan, is killed. Almásy is too ill to travel further and Hana decides to set up a makeshift medical ward in a nearby Spanish monastery, to stay with her patient until he expires. Almásy's only possession is an old leather-bound book, The Histories of Herodotus, in which are tucked away a number of drawings, poems, photographs, and short letters. In the evenings, Hana reads to her patient from his book and, occasionally, from the materials stashed away inside it. Bit by bit, Almásy begins to recall the circumstances of his life.

In the late thirties, with war looming, Laszlo de Almásy, a Hungarian count, had been part of a surveying and map-making expedition, sponsored by the Royal Geological Society, to explore the Sahara Desert. Also on the team had been Almásy's best friend, Madox (Julian Wadham), and the Cliftons, who helped raise money to fund the work. Geoffrey Clifton (Colin Firth) is a likable pilot. He adores his beautiful wife, Katherine (Kristin Scott Thomas). We learn that the pair married after growing up together and after many years of being just close friends. Katherine is intelligent and well read. Geoffrey is secretly working for the British military, gathering information in anticipation of the possible outbreak of war. When Geoffrey is sent on a mission, Katherine stays behind to work with the survey team, nicknamed "The International Sand Club," despite Almásy's protestations. Almásy must already sense the raw chemistry that would draw Katherine and himself together. While exploring, the team discovers in a rock cliff an old cave with ancient hieroglyphics of people swimming, suggesting that even the Sahara was not always a barren desert. When Almásy and Katherine are stranded alone together in a vicious sandstorm, the inevitable comes to fruition.

Back in the film's present (1944), Hana and the now leathery-skinned Almásy acquire some boarders at their monastery. First to arrive is a man named Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), a self-described thief and a Canadian working as a spy for the Allies. Caravaggio had heard about Hana and her "English patient" from a mutual friend, Hana's former colleague, Mary. Caravaggio arrives with a small gift for Hana, some eggs, but drops one as he tries to perform a trick with it. Caravaggio, it would appear, is "all thumbs." As it turns out, however, he's all but thumbs. Caravaggio's thumbs had been sliced off while he was being tortured and interrogated by Nazis, after their sudden arrival in Cairo after the outbreak of war. Caravaggio has one all-consuming agenda in life – vengeance. He's already tracked down and killed the man who ordered his thumbs cut off as well as an accomplice. Now he's after the traitor who furnished maps to the Nazis that permitted their spies to reach Cairo so abruptly. Caravaggio suspects that Almásy is that man. Almásy, who is dying anyway and whose memories trigger a depth of pain far in excess of any fear of death, feels no need to hide his story from Caravaggio. As the details gradually sift back into his conscious awareness, he shares them with Hana, Caravaggio, and us.

Two other men who take up temporary residence at the monastery are bomb disposal specialists, assigned the task of deactivating land mines and booby-traps left behind by the Nazis during their retreat. The senior man of the pair is Kip (Naveen Andrews), a Sikh officer who sports a turban. The other is Sgt. Hardy (Kevin Whately). Hana, who has lost more than one male lover to the ravages of war, believes herself cursed and fears that any man that she cares for is doomed to die. With her patient Almásy, at least, there is an assurance that his impending death will have been preordained rather than another tragic accident. Soon, however, Hana finds herself attracted to the handsome and somewhat mysterious Kip, though still fearing that the gift of her love would be his death. As it is, Kip hovers at death's threshold every day, by the very nature of his work. Kip saves Hana from blowing herself to bits on a booby-trapped piano. Hana humors herself with the thought that "Maybe you're safe as long as you only play Bach, because Bach was German." Later, Kip treats Hana to an aerial view of magnificent paintings in the monastery's chapel, by hoisting her on high using a harness and a pulley arrangement.

WARNING: SPOILERS THROUGHOUT THE NEXT THREE PARAGRAPHS. SKIP TO THEMES TO AVOID.

Gradually, Almásy begins to recall more of his past. When the survey expedition had returned to Cairo, Almásy and Katherine had continued with their illicit liaisons, unable to restrain their passion for one another. One day, Geoffrey had discovered her adultery, quite unexpectedly. She had expected him to be away, but he had secretly planned to surprise her on the first anniversary of their marriage. Geoffrey had kept his discovery to himself and Katherine, racked by a mounting sense of guilt, had finally ended her affair with Almásy. After a drunken spectacle, Almásy had returned to the desert, pining miserably for his lover. At the end of the mission, Geoffrey had offered to fly in and bring Almásy home from his solo expedition. In actuality, Geoffrey, feeling betrayed, had something else altogether in mind. With Katherine at his side in the biplane, Geoffrey had dived the plane straight at Almásy standing on the ground. Almásy had managed to leap behind a dune. Geoffrey had died in the crash and Katherine was badly wounded. Almásy had carried her into the safety of the "Cave of Swimmers," but the pair was now stranded with no way to get back to civilization. Their only hope was for Almásy to walk the three days distance across the desert to the nearest outpost and return in a jeep or truck for Katherine.

After struggling for three days, Almásy had finally reached the nearest garrison, now populated by a fresh set of British soldiers. Taken for a possible German spy, Almásy had been arrested and his pleas for a vehicle with which to rescue Katherine had been ignored. Desperate to get back to Katherine before she died from starvation or exposure, Almásy had managed to escape from the transport train. He had then found a German outpost and had negotiated a trade: his survey maps for Madox's old plane. He had returned to Katherine, but only soon enough to remove her corpse for proper burial. It was during the return flight that his plane had been shot down by German machine guns. Since he had been extracted from an English plane, unable to identify himself, he had been designated "the English patient."

Back at the monastery, Carvaggio, having learned the truth of Almásy's dilemma, decides he cannot kill the man, despite his having given the survey maps to the Germans. Suddenly, news arrives that Germany has surrendered and the war is over. A much-needed rain falls and Almásy gets his wish to feel the splash of raindrops one last time, when Kip, Carvaggio, Hana, and Sgt. Hardy carry Almásy around the courtyard on a stretcher in the downpour. That night, while celebrating the end of the war, Hardy is killed by a booby trap in the nearby town square. Kip is pained by the loss of his friend, but is soon reassigned to Florence and bids farewell to Hana. That night, Almásy begs Hana to administer all of the remaining vials of morphine and to read him to sleep. Hana reads Katherine's final letter to Almásy, written in the Cave of Swimmers as she was dying, as Almásy fades into oblivion. In the morning, Hana hops a transport truck and heads off to Florence, presumably to rejoin Kip. Hope strings eternal, when love is in the air.

Themes: This is a film about love and loss. Whenever one loves, one assumes a degree of risk. With love comes the possibility of unbearable loss. Furthermore, the potential for pain from love lost must be proportionate to the strength, depth, or passion of that love. Yet a life without love is not worth living and to deny love out of fear of unbearable pain from its loss is to strip human life of its dearest meaning. Love is what counts in the end. The central love story in this film is obviously the irresistible passion that welled up between Almásy and Katherine – so intense that it could not be suppressed, despite one party having to play the adulterer and the other having to overcome a near phobia against loving or being loved. Hana and Carvaggio are critical to the story in another way, however. Like us viewers, they are there to hear and be inspired by Almásy's story of all-consuming passion. And inspired they are! Hana learns to move forward, past the fear that those she loves will die, and to try once again to find love, with Kip. Carvaggio learns to move past his all-consuming thirst for revenge and to forgive a man who contributed unwittingly to his painful dismemberment, out of respect for the love that necessitated Almásy's action. Kip, with Hana's help, mourns and then accepts the loss of a beloved comrade in arms, Sgt. Hardy. It is Katherine, in her parting letter, who most poetically sums up why we must continue to risk subjecting ourselves to the horrors of love lost: "We die. We die rich with lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have entered and swum up like rivers." It is the memory of those loves that most enrich and ennoble our lives and which we'll carry with us to our graves as our most priceless legacies.

There's a subsidiary theme as well, posed more as a question for contemplation than a definitive moral of the story. Was Almásy a traitor for turning over his maps to the Germans in his desperate effort to save Katherine and to keep his promise to her? Where do causes rate in relation to the love we bear for our dearest ones? A common tactic used to entice people into betraying causes or associates is to threaten the life or the comfort of their loved ones. It is often a more effective tactic even than threatening the person's own life or torturing them. Almásy was not especially partial to one side or the other in the war and when the British made him an enemy, by imprisoning him while his lover lay dying, he turned to the Germans. Almásy tells Caravaggio that his choice to trade the maps for Katherine didn't cause more deaths but only changed a bit which people died. Causes are always pitted against contrary causes. To fight for one is to fight against another. Love, at least, is better than a zero-sum game. Clearly, however, those kinds of argument won't wash for partisans on either side in a life and death struggle. One could also ask, "Did Katherine betray her husband?" Well . . . yes, she did, but sometimes sizzling carnal desire combined with a powerful psychological attraction is simply more than two people can resist.

Production Values: I don't usually have much to say in my reviews about film producers, but Saul Zaentz is an uncommon producer and had a lot to do with this film coming to life. Zaentz was born on February 28th, 1921 in Passaic, NJ and first achieved success as a music producer, as owner of Fantasy Records, marketing such talent as the Credence Clearwater Revival. He made a dramatic shift into producing feature films with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), winning an Oscar for Best Picture on his first try. Since then, he's concentrated on acquiring the rights to major contemporary novels, often times ones that would seem to have little potential for adaptation to film, and turning them into great movies, with a lot of help from superlative production teams. Zaentz produced such films as Amadeus (1984), The Mosquito Coast (1986), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), and The English Patient (1996). In 2005, Zaentz produced a musical version of The Lord of the Rings for the London stage. Zaentz is also the producer for Goya's Ghosts, a film currently in production. Zaentz received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1997.

Anthony Minghella wrote the screenplay for this film, based on the popular and award-winning novel by Michael Ondaatje. It's an exceptionally well-crafted story. The novel was too complex and sprawling for a straight adaptation. The alterations made by Minghella were required to make the story cinematic. Minghella chose to focus most especially on the core relationship between Almásy and Katherine. Hana was purified a bit and Kip given less development than in the novel, but their substory remains important for establishing the film's grand theme: that love is still worth the price that we sometimes have to pay for it. Hana and Caravaggio are both critical to the narrative because they represent the viewer's perspective on the story. As they learn Almásy's story, we learn it as well. Minghella reduced the mystery elements and simplified the narrative structure to ensure cinematic coherence. What Minghella retained and highlighted was a haunting love story for the ages. My one major complaint about this film is that I find the torture scene in which Caravaggio's thumbs are sliced off so disturbing that it limits how often I choose to go back for another look at this film.

This film is packed with exotic North African locales, from the Sahara Desert on over to Cairo. The camerawork by John Seale is superb. In one scene, for example, Hana is pulled aloft by Kip on a pulley apparatus and the camera is right up there with her. In another scene, the camera takes us deep inside the magnificent Cave of Swimmers. Minghella does a great job of telling his story in part through his images. The English Patient won Oscars in five categories having to do with sound and images: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design.

Ralph Fiennes's performance as Almásy is quite special. It's almost two roles, since his performance in the 1944 segments is subdued by his charred condition and heavy make-up, whereas his character in the thirties was a man on fire with passion, first for his work and, later, for Katherine. I'd rate Fiennes's performance here as even better than his great one in Schindler's List (1993). Some of his other appearances have been in Quiz Show (1994), Strange Days (1995), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), The Avengers (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), The End of the Affair (1999), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Red Dragon (2002), and Spider (2002).

Kristin Scott Thomas got her first lead role in this film and made the most of it. She's passionate and powerful, intelligent and luminous. I was impressed with her in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). She's also worked in Richard III (1995), Angels and Insects (1995), Mission: Impossible (1996), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and Gosford Park (2001).

I absolutely love Juliettte Binoche and have for years. She won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her work in this film. Her work is always incredibly subtle. You can check her out for yourself in Rendez-vous (1985), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Lovers on the Bridge (1991), Damage (1992), Blue (1993) (See Three Colors), The Horseman on the Roof (1995) and Chocolat (2000).

Willem Dafoe (Platoon), the only American in the cast, added a powerful element of mystery and tension to the film. Colin Firth (Pride and Prejudice) gives a sympathetic performance as the betrayed Geoffrey Clifton. Others effective in supporting roles included Naveen Andrews (Mighty Joe Young) as Kip and Julian Wadham (The Madness of King George) as Madox.

Bottom-Line: I'm so glad I purchased the Collector's Series DVD for this film. The format is widescreen, enhanced for 16X9 televisions, with digital Dolby surround sound. The package of extras is quite exceptional, among the best I've encountered for any film. They include: a choice of two commentary tracks, a "making of" documentary, deleted scenes, a historical look at the real Count Almásy, a discussion of the adaptation from novel to screenplay, a short feature on producer Saul Zaentz, a series of sketches of author Michael Ondaatje, conversations with director Anthony Minghella, producer Saul Zaentz, author Michael Ondaatje, and Editor Walter Murch, a featurette on the work of the production designer, and more. Subtitle options include English (for the hearing-impaired), French, and Spanish.

The English Patient is a powerful story about love and loss. It's both thought provoking and moving. This film won nine Oscars in 1996, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche). It was nominated in three other categories. The British Film Institute ranks it as the 55th best British film all-time. It also won the BAFTA award for Best Film. I highly recommend it.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age