The English Patient (1996 movie)

Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Released: 1996
Country: United States, United Kingdom

Main cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott Thomas, William Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, Colin Firth, Julian Wadham, Kevin Whately

Genres: Drama, Romance, War

Rating: 5 out of 5

Review

I would like to start this review by saying that this film is indeed a masterpiece. It's one of the best films I've seen yet.

The English Patient is a romantic drama film which is set in Italy and Egypt, The English Patient is a deeply moving motion picture. Told through a brilliant series of flashbacks, the film has a prologue and epilogue- which is explained throughout the movie. Confused? Oh well. I won't be revealing much!

At the beginning of the movie, we see a plane flying. And there are a woman and a man there. Well, this is the prologue...

A few scenes passes, I won't describe all of them. The film is now set in Italy, during the World War II, a horribly burnt man (played by Ralph Fiennes) is in Italy and is being taken care. Hana (played by Juliette Binoche), a nurse, takes care of him in an abandoned monastery. Well, slowly the man beings to remember something, and then there are flashbacks. The man's actual name is Count Lazlo de Almasy. He is a Hungarian cartographer working in Egypt with his partner, a man named Madox (played by Julian Wadham). Then, a British couple, Geoffrey (played by Colin Firth) and Katherine Clifton (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) join them. Both the Count and Katherine are attracted to each other. And their relationship deepens in an expedition... But there are problems behind this. That is, Katherine is already married. And then the war starts and everything goes different...

The film shifts between flashbacks and the ''present time'' (that is 1944 in Italy). Often, there are scenes which shows Hana with the wounded Count, and then there is a flashback.

Meanwhile, a visitor, Caravaggio (played William Dafoe) starts living with Hana and the injured Count. This Caravaggio is quite mysterious and had known the Count previously. I won't reveal that much, though.There is a subplot about the romance between Hana and Kip, a Silk sapper in the British army.

Caravaggio hates the Count, he accuses the Count of several things. I won't like to spoil the wonderful movie for you so I won't reveal what these things are. The Count then explains several things, several things which which helps us to understand everything in the storyline. All of the puzzles, all of the mysteries are solved at the end.

Wow, what a wonderful presentation! Really, such excellent presentations are probably rarely seen. The film is told between flashbacks and the ''present'' time (Italy, last periods of the World War II). Slowly, the viewers come to know everything, from what happened in the prologue to what are all the reasons, what are all the answers to Caravaggio's doubts.

All the characters are so strong: Count Lazlo de Almasy, Katherine Clifton, Hana, Kip, Caravaggio, even Geoffrey Clifton... These characters, and the actors who played them, contribute to make the film highly engrossing and interesting. Along with the movie's wonderful story and presentation, the actors, and the characters, play an important role to make this movie more excellent, more lovely.

The English Patient won nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche), Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Director. And I believe, it deserved all the nine Oscars that it won.

With elements of tragedy, drama, romance, war, and a wonderful presentation, an excellent cast, some touching music, a great storyline, and very good cinematography, The English Patient has been, according to my opinion, one of the best films of the 1990s. It is a deeply touching film which almost brought tears to my eyes.

5 out of 5.