The English Patient (1996)
US/UK 162m, Colour
Director: Anthony Minghella; Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Despite the film’s beautiful cinematography and Márta Sebestyén’s haunting melody, Szerelem, szerelem, The English Patient is a tedious romantic drama about a severely burned man who is tended to by a French Canadian nurse in an abandoned monastery during WWII. Told as a series of flashbacks, we learn the identity and story of the “English Patient”, which is not as interesting as it should have been, considering the length of the film and the complexity of the screenplay. Likewise, none of the characters are particularly likable or even engaging, making it difficult to be sympathetic in what amounts to selfish and unromantic “tragic romance” (Klaus Ming February 2013).
2 comments on “The English Patient (1996)”
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Tedious and unsympathetic — that about nails it. Beautiful movie, but icky. People compared it to Casablanca, but it has the opposite point. The problems of two little people outweigh the rest of the world.
A bit of a testament to the greatness of Ralph Fiennes, though, since I think it was really his skill that took the audience through the movie without most of them realizing what a creep his character was.
I hadn’t heard the comparisons to Casablanca – yikes, You’re absolutely right – the films are polar opposites when it comes to the character’s motivations. And yeah, Fiennes is despicable.
I never thought i’d ever watch this film a second time – thanks 1001 movie list! 😉