Review of The English Patient (1996) by Simon H — 06 Jun 2014

The English Patient is a different World War II era film than others, where the story revolves around the love of a couple rather than the war. There are mentions of what is happening in the fight and you do get shots of soldiers and tanks off duty but the focus is on the presented love affair.

The way it is written is quite clever. Instead of showing the story from start to end, it presents Ralph Fiennes as a badly burnt and bed ridden patient who has lost his memories. Throughout the film, flashbacks are presented of his younger self and the affair. Alongside this storyline, you are provided with other tales including Canadian spy Willem Dafoe and nurse Juliette Binoche. Among the story, you also receive a small role from Colin Firth. Fiennes plays his character well in the Flashback but I believe his performance as the burnt Count deserves the nomination he got. The make up is fantastic and Fiennes is unrecognisable.

Whilst the film is made well and comes out with a satisfactory story, I personally can't see it as a masterpiece like others describe it as. Some scenes I felt were slow and some flashbacks felt cut short with no resolution to that point in the plot. I believe if some scenes were shortened slightly, it may have a better feeling. Still, I can't fault the work that has been put into the film which provides some excellent performances that are not often see from these particular actors.