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Ralph Fiennes,
Ralph Fiennes,
Juliette Binoche,
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Anthony Minghella,
Anthony Minghella
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: Miramax
: Drama, Foreign, Romance, Costume Drama/Period Piece, British Drama, UK
: English
: English, Spanish, French
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Anthony Minghella wrote and directed this award-winning adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel about a doomed and tragic romance set against the backdrop of World War II. In a field hospital in Italy, Hana (Juliette Binoche), a nurse from Canada, is caring for a pilot who was horribly burned in a plane wreck; he has no identification and cannot remember his name, so he's known simply as "the English Patient," thanks to his accent. When the hospital is forced to evacuate, Hana determines en route that the patient shouldn't be moved far due to his fragile condition, so the two are left in a monastery to be picked up later. In time, Hana begins to piece together the patient's story from the shards of his memories; he's actually Count Laszlo Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), of Hungarian nobility and an explorer working with a group mapping uncharted territory in North Africa. An Englishman, Geoffrey Clifton (Colin Firth), soon joins Almasy's team; travelling with him is his lovely and spirited wife, Katherine (Kristin Scott Thomas). Katherine and Laszlo soon fall in love, which leads Laszlo to betray his friend, his country and all that is dear to him. Meanwhile, Hana and the Patient are joined by Kip (Naveen Andrews), a Sikh with a gift for defusing mines, and Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), an intelligence agent who knows some of Laszlo's most shameful secrets. The English Patient won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| all hype little substance
by HotelCalifornia
August 5, 2007 - 3:14 PM PDT
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this film is the epitome of hollywood : so much emphasis on the sensory experience but below average in content. This is the type of movie that fools the simple minded american mainstream consumer into the feeling that this is supposed to be some great epic. The symphonic music combined with the scenery, camerawork, and make-up all titillate the senses. To the intelligent mind, however, so often this movie lacks depth and poignancy. The characters speak in lovely articulate queen's english, but the actual statements are unremarkable.
The whole movie is centered around that favorite Hollywood theme - the husband is uncharismatic and lacks charm, so he loses his woman to the good looking, charming star of the movie. In this case it is unbridled infidelity that the director assumes the audience will condone. Other Hollywood mainstays occur : the portrayal of the German as the stiff lipped Aryan beast that deserves nothing but eternal damnation and the British aristocrat who seems indifferent to any suffering. There are various white peasants being manhandled by Germans in the middle of Cairo. I guess these are supposed to be Jews stuck in egypt that are suffering quietly in the background. The whole movie is quite contrived. I think this won best picture?? There are definitely worse movies, but this is overrated. |
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