My favorite movie

Rating: Null/10 (16 October 2004)

Reading one reviewer's comments about not liking the English Patient, I feel I have to respond. This is my all-time favorite movie. But I admit it's a matter of taste. I think World War II is the most fascinating period of modern history. Great upheaval in all parts of the world. The three globally dominate political systems clashing in a conflict that reshaped the world into the one we live in today. Most World War II movies are about great clashes on the battlefields. But in this movie they are a mere backdrop to one of the most romantic tales ever told, in my opinion. I am an incredible romanticist, and you have to be to like this movie. It also helps that I am the product of parents whose lives were shaped by World War II. My father fought the Germans and spent years in one of their prisoner of war camps. World War II was the dominant theme in our household growing up. I believe the makers of this movie did a great job of capturing the scale of World War II without putting us through endless battle scenes, like Saving Private Ryan. But most of all they captured the torture of a burning romance torn asunder by forces these lovers could not control. Although the English Patient and Casablanca are very different films, the themes are similar.