Review of The English Patient (1996) by Pavan R — 27 Apr 2015

It might indeed be 2 hours and 42 minutes but when a film is as well made as this, I really don't think it matters. 'The English Patient' is a wholly absorbing film and an absolutely huge Oscar winner. Saying that, in general, I don't really feel that the length is long, sure, if the material wasn't good, you'd feel it, but the pace for this film is excellent and it has a rich and involving plot that continues to unravel in great ways the longer it plays. This film really does have an aura about it that really did stay with me for a long time after viewing.

The plot is interestingly told, although, I do wonder what it would have been like it if were told in the conventional way, which would leave some mystery as to what happens to our characters, there's a car crash at one point and you might wonder if that's where the tragedy happened but when what happened at the start did, I thought our main character might be in that accident and he was, sadly. At first I thought he would be describing his life via flashbacks but for reasons that the plot explains, he cannot do that, so the flashbacks just happen on their own and I guess that could annoy some but it all happens through some very excellent editing. The editing also has some very nice touches, when the first scene that features a ballroom dance ends, it fades back to present time but shows Almásy's face a little bit before fading back completely; or in another scene where one song that is playing in the past it is carried over to the present and it all fits quite nicely. All of the technicals of this film are outstanding; the film looks and sounds perfect. This film is just so beautiful to look at and it really draws you in and keeps you engaged until the credits roll and the soundtrack is just beautiful. Although, there was one point where the camera quickly zooms in on Almásy and Hana talking whilst out in a shopping area and it felt a bit odd, it reminded me that there was someone behind the camera, as nitpicky as that is to say.

The story is overused at this point but there always has to be a love affair, doesn't there? Always gotta be some wife stealin' but it develops very well and you feel it. While the film stays on point of developing his backstory, I felt it kind of odd that it goes off topic nearing the early part of the second hour, there's nothing wrong with developing your side characters but for the smallest of moments, Almásy becomes a non-character in his own story. We learn about David and then everyone is partying, dancing and having a good time, right in front of him, which felt very cruel, and there he is just lying there, slowly dying in that bed. Also, I think we all knew he wasn't going to get back to that cave in time but I think that train segment should have gone on a little bit longer. However, regardless of what I said earlier on about if it had a conventional narrative, the way the story loops around itself is very sad and now that we have the story, the shots of Hana in the plane that were in the start just got a lot more saddening.

The acting in this film is fantastic, Ralph Fiennes is a great lead and really committed himself to the role, given what he insisted with the makeup, which I'm sure annoyed the makeup department, and I hope he was comfy in that bed because that would really hurt otherwise, but really? No Oscar nomination for that? It's great for everyone and obviously perfect for him. He also made me laugh at one point because he mentioned Budapest. Speaking of, I didn't expect 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' to be up for any Oscars given how early it came out in the year, which ended up not being the case; but it's hard to believe, given his excellent body of work, he hasn't been nominated since this film, at the time of this review, and it's a shame. Ralph Fiennes stars alongside Juliette Binoche once more and it was odd how she was put in the Supporting Actress categories, despite having higher billing in the cast and seemingly having more screentime, but for the story, it made sense. She also reminded me a lot of Julia Roberts as well. Kristin Scott Thomas reminded me of Cameron Diaz at times and she too gave a great performance and really worked well with Fiennes, but she also seemingly left all of her belongings on her table when she was called to dinner with the others! Willem Dafoe was a unique choice and quite funny too, picturing Bruce Willis in his role is certainly odd to think but I can see him in it well. He brought some fresh eggs but I thought he'd make a joke about not being so fresh anymore seeing as how he dropped them and I thought Almásy would have made a joke about his codename being moose. While I liked his character I think he could have been written out and I feel like not much would have changed.

Given all it won, I would have thought that this would have won the Oscar for its screenplay as well. While it is a book adaptation, some call it Oscar bait but that doesn't detract from the film at all as it is superbly made. 'The English Patient' is a very engrossing journey and also seemingly paved the way for the next two winners of the Best Picture whilst The Academy was going through their romantic phase, of which, all three films I love, and it's another film off of the list.