I have only seen
two of the late Anthony Minghella’s films, but based on what I have seen he
seemed to have a taste for old-school Hollywood movies that were made on a
grand scale and shot on location. Cold
Mountain (2003) was a Civil War drama featuring epic battles, a love story,
and Academy Award winning performances. Before that his signature film was The English Patient (1996), a World War
II drama featuring slightly less epic battles, a love story, and multiple
Academy Award winning performances. Although decried by a Seinfeld character for being too long, Minghella’s film deserved
every award it received and emphasizes the loss cinema suffered when he died in
2008.
Since I had
nothing to do last Valentine’s Day (not that I am complaining) I thought I
might as well dig through Netflix and cross off another movie off my list. As The English Patient came out when I was
around nine years old I of course missed it when it first came out and only
heard about through pop culture over the years, mostly from Elaine Benes
complaining about how long it is on an episode of Seinfeld. To be fair it is 162 minutes long, but in my opinion the
length of a movie doesn’t matter as long as it keeps you interested for the
whole ride. The flashback structure and the engaging performances did just that
for me and overall made for a pretty good February 14.
The movie hooks
you up with a mystery. In the late 1930s the German army shoots down a plane in
the Sahara desert piloted by a man (Ralph Fiennes) who is transporting a dead
woman. Bedouins later rescue him out of the wreckage, but his body has been
badly burned by the explosion. Years later French-Canadian nurse Hana (Juliette
Binoche) is taking care of the man in Italy during the final stages of World
War II. The man’s deaths is imminent, so Hana decides to separate from the rest
of the army and camps out in a monastery to make his last days more
comfortable.
All this time she
has no idea who the man is as he claims to have forgotten his name. How did he
end up in that plane with a dead woman? Was he flying for the British or the
Germans? David Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), a Canadian intelligence officer who
arrives to provide supplies to Hana believes he recognizes the man and that he
is responsible for torture he suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Through tense
conversations between Caravaggio, and Hana reading excerpts from the man’s
diary, pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
Flashbacks take
place in Egypt and Libya when the man, real name Count Lazlo Almasy, was working
as a cartographer for a British archaeological expedition. A serious man who
focuses on his job, the count is distracted by the arrival of his financiers,
George and Katherine Clifton (Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas). A
beautiful woman in a desert expedition populated only by men is sure to cause
some friction, and sure enough what you think is going to happen ends up
happening. Through events that are somewhat contrived, Lazlo and Katherine end
up spending the night together in a car during a sandstorm. Nothing like a
near-death experience to bring two people together, even if one of them is
married. Over time the affair between the serious Lazlo and the free-spirited
Katherine grows more passionate, while poor George begins to suspect something.
The story, based
on a novel by Michael Ondaatje, almost gives you two movies for the price of
one. When the action gets back to the Italian monastery Hana herself is falling
in love with Kip (Naveen Andrews), a member a bomb disposal unit, despite the
fact she believes all the men in her life are cursed to die in the war. In a
nerve-wracking scene, Kip is trying to defuse an unexploded bomb while dozens
of tank are heading his way, making the bomb vibrate dangerously. Do you feel
lucky today?
The movie
received multiple awards, including an Oscar for Juliette Binoche, but I found
Ralph Finnes had a much tougher job. For half the movie he plays this stoic
English archaeologist whose heart is slowly melting, and for the second half he
is confined to bed with his skin badly burned as his character reflects on the
mistakes that led him to his current situation. For an actor mostly known for
playing villains, this is a reminder he has many more acting tricks up his
sleeve.
Running time
aside, The English Patient deserved
every accolade it received and makes you wonder what else Minghella could have
achieved had he not died so soon.
Comments
Post a Comment