Based on
Michael Ondaatje’s sweeping WWII novel, Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996) is a
sumptuously mounted historical epic. At its center are a pair of love stories,
one romantically flawed, the other utterly obsessive and tragic. The lover's
triangle formula is as old as movies itself. But unlike many, The English Patient avoids practically
every pitfall known to the genre, episodically driven to tell a good story.
Like David Lean’s Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, The English Patient is told primarily
through a series of integrated flashbacks.
Minghella's
screenplay wastes no time in setting up the premise. A young French-Canadian
nurse, Hana (Juliette Binoche) is left behind in an abandoned Italian monastery
to tend to a mysterious burn victim, Count Laszlo de Almásy (Ralph Fiennes).
With more than eighty percent of his flesh charred, Almásy is dying. It is a
certainty, though perhaps one Hana is not yet ready, willing or able to accept.
Almásy has faked amnesia to avoid prosecution from the Allied Forces. Known to
Hana only as 'the English patient', Almásy is actually a Hungarian geographer
who was making maps of the Sahara Desert when he became romantically involved
with Katherine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas).
As the hours
turn into days, Hana befriends Almásy and he gradually begins to open up to her
about his remembrances during the war. Almásy once organized the Royal
Geographic Society dig in Egypt and Libya, funded by Katherine and her husband,
Geoffrey (Colin Firth). During long stretches when Geoffrey was away on
business Almásy's growing desire for Katherine became an all-consuming
obsession. Although Katherine was initially faithful to Geoffrey, she
eventually relented to Almásy's temptation and their passionate affair began. But
it was doomed to burn itself out. Overwrought with guilt, Katherine ends the
affair. But Geoffrey has already found the lovers out. Thus, when Katherine informs
him that they must fly their biplane out to some desert cave to collect Almásy
at the dig, Geoffrey instead seizes the opportunity to crash land his plane
into Almásy, thereby killing them all. Unhappy chance that only Geoffrey is
killed in the crash.
Katherine has
survived but will bleed to death unless Almásy can make it into town on foot to
get help. Leaving Katherine in the cave where she will ultimately perish,
Almásy is taken prisoner by the Allies who refuse to listen to his pleas about
Katherine. Almásy escapes and steals a plane. But he arrives too late to save
the woman he loves. As a grief stricken Almásy flies home his plane is downed
by the Nazis, the fire from its engine engulfing him. Hana and Almásy's
exploration of these recent events is interrupted with the arrival of David
Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe) - a Canadian intelligence operative who lost both his
thumbs and was severely tortured by the Nazis because of what he has perceived
as Almásy's betrayal. At the same time Hana becomes involved with Sikh bomb
expert, Kip (Naveen Andrews), an infatuation that gradually blossoms into a
more meaningful love. Having acquitted himself of his past regrets, Almásy
instructs Hana to administer a lethal dose of morphine that will finally put
him out of his misery.
Winner of nine
Academy Awards The English Patient
retains its sweeping arch of passionate storytelling. Minghella’s direction,
his use of long takes and static master shots, fleetingly conjures to mind the
visionary genius of David Lean – if not in spirit, then certainly in both its
tone and production values. The desert sequences, particularly the sand storm,
are thrilling. But, it must be said that the teaming of Fiennes and Thomas as
the ravenous lovers is problematic at best.
Whether Fiennes
prowess as an actor has been irreversibly tainted by his brilliant performance
as the maniacal villain in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993), or it is
simply a matter of miscasting, in both physical stature and outward demeanor
Fiennes is quite unacceptable as the Count. Fiennes' insolence is too
shifty-eyed, his sullen mood too brooding - too insane to be misconstrued as
mere passionate obsession. Almost from the moment we meet the Count, Fiennes
makes him a wholly unsympathetic and largely unlikeable character. As for
Kristin Scott Thomas, her Katherine is too remote, too aloof and seemingly too
proper and refined to succumb to such devious charms. Hence, her willing
abandonment of propriety in general and fidelity to her marriage in particular
seems even more mean-spirited than Almásy's driven need to possess her.
The film has
much better luck with Juliette Binoche's tender and meaningful take on Hana.
Hana's burgeoning romance with Kip is both tender, yet fraught with a worrisome
denial, that she is somehow a jinx to those she loves the most. Binoche is
effortless in conveying the depth of these hidden desires and anxieties,
intermingling just beneath her outward facade as a compassionate caregiver. John
Seale's cinematography captures the stoic isolationism of the desert sands and
the bustling chaos of a thriving culture caught between the trials and
tribulations of an epic war. Gabriel Yared's score creates a haunting overlay
that draws out the emotional center of the film and keeps it alive and ever
present in our minds.
Miramax/Alliance
Home Video's newly remastered Blu-ray rectifies the absolute travesty of
Alliance Canada Home Video's initial hi-def release of The English Patient. This time around we get a progressive, dual
layer 1080p transfer and it's about time! It should be noted that Miramax's
Blu-ray veers radically away from previous home video incarnations in its
reproduction of color. Whereas all previous versions on DVD and Blu-ray
maintained a relatively cool to medium register of colors, with piercing blue
skies and very bright whites, this new Blu-ray adopts a very warm almost copper
tone/sepia hue. It's been too long for me to recall what the actual theatrical
look of the film was. Suffice it to say, I don't remember the image looking
quite this sun burnt. Nevertheless, fine details take a quantum leap forward on
this disc. Contrasts are very nicely balanced with deep blacks and very solid,
although yellowish, whites.
The audio has
been remastered Tru-DTS 7.1 and is very aggressive. Dialogue sounds quite
natural. The sand storm sequence will rock your speakers. Extras are all
imports from Miramax's extensive 2 disc DVD from 2000 and include a very
comprehensive commentary by writer-director Anthony Minghella, producer Saul
Zaentz and author, Michael Ondaatje. The CBC’s documentary on the making of the
film is somewhat of a disappointment, relying heavily on trailer junkets and
very little but sound bytes from cast and crew. There are also featurettes on
scoring the film, writing the film, Minghella's career and Ondaatje's writing
style, plus a theatrical trailer to sift through when time permits. Bottom
line: recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
3.5
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