Review of The English Patient (1996) by Stuart K — 05 Aug 2013
Written and directed by Anthony Minghella, adapted from Michael Ondaatje's 1992 novel. This is a sweeping and visually stunning romantic drama set during World War 2. It owes a lot to David Lean's epics, but it is overlong and it is a cold affair, despite looking good.
It has a very godo cast, and they all do great in the film, but the film doesn't have a heart, and it's very hard to care about the characters. It tries hard to be a great epic, but it tries too hard.
In an abandoned Italian monastery, French-Canadian nurse Hana (Juliette Binoche) tends to a critically burned man only known as 'The English Patient' (Ralph Fiennes). Through a series of letters and flashbacks, the patient reveals himself to be Count László de Almásy, a Hungarian cartographer who was in Africa working on a map of the Sahara Desert.
While exploring Egypt and Libya, he meets Geoffrey Clifton (Colin Firth) and his wife Katherine (Kristin Scott Thomas). The Count begins an affair with Katherine, and Geoffrey soon finds out, and plans a tragic revenge against the Count, a decision that has far reaching consequences for everyone.
There's no denying that Minghella has put his heart and soul into making this film, and it was a huge gamble for everyone on board. It might have been a world success and won Oscars, but there were better films released in 1996, this has no fireworks to speak of.
Shame really.
This review of The English Patient (1996) was written by Stuart K on 05 Aug 2013.
The English Patient has generally received very positive reviews.
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