An epic story of love.

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2008)

A passionate tale of determination and romance. Like with all of Minghella's work, every single character is so layered and complex. He takes time and devotion to give each character a sufficient amount of intricacy that we truly feel like we know these people and when one of them feels pain, we do as well. When one of them is joyous (the rain scene, for instance) our faces light up with glee.
There's Hana, the caring nurse who is too afraid of love to let anyone near her since right from the start the two closest people to her are destroyed by the war. Slowly her friendship with Almasy becomes stronger and stronger and it gives her the courage and determination to pursue a sexual relationship with Kip, who is also a very complex character. On the surface we see him as a kind man, who is very spiritual and loving. But near the end he realizes how isolated he is and the fact that he barely even knew his best friend whom he worked side by side with for years sends him into a complete breakdown. This leads to a very emotional scene, where Binoche really shines. Next up there is David Caravaggio, a spy who eventually gets captured and loses his thumbs while being tortured for information. He sets out on a vengeance to murder everyone connected to his capture, which leads him to Almasy, his final target. But being around Almasy and realizing the pain and suffering that he has been through leads him to look deep inside himself and realize that he doesn't need his revenge. He relieves himself of all this pain and anguish and in the end we see him with a bright grin, just happy to be alive, thumbs or not.
Katharine Clifton is a character very similar to those in the past, but she has an extra spark that makes her very unique. As her husband spends less and less attention to her, she becomes involved in a tumultuous love affair with Almasy which leads to some of the most beautifully romantic scenes ever brought to cinema. Minghella easily could have made her another whiny, confused housewife who just passed in and out of the film with no real connection the audience but he bestowed her with a certain grace and dignity which made us want her to have a happy ending and made us adore seeing her and Almasy enjoying each other's company. Even Geoffrey Clifton becomes a layered character when we learn that he isn't venturing off to do photographs, but is instead helping the army explore territory. So while he could have just been another ignorant husband to an adulterous wife, Minghella adds intricacy to him. And of course the entire story all revolves around Almasy, the man who would do anything, even sell out his country to the enemy, just to be with the woman he loved. A truly romantic and beautiful tale.
What I found very interesting, though, was how Minghella subtly displays the horrors and terrible effects that war has on the people that aren't even physically fighting it. Through Hana we see a woman who is permanently destroyed and almost unable to love due to the fact that this awful war took away everyone who became close to her. In Kip we see a man who is so blinded by his job and duty to his country that he never even takes the time to appreciate the man he considers his best friend. Caravaggio takes abuse after abuse, with unimaginable pain being inflicted on him as a result of the war. The Cliftons are a loving couple, who have no troubles whatsoever until the war starts and Geoffrey is off helping his country while Katharine becomes involved in an affair. But the most horrific effect of war is shown constantly through Almasy's story. All he wanted was love and companionship, but the war wouldn't allow him that. He only gets his love because of the war, and due to it's changing seriousness his love is ripped away from him and he falls into complete heartache. Then we see him reclaim this love, and he does whatever he can to save her life. But, as Binoche mentions early on the film, when war times come even your name means a great deal. We see this terribly through Almasy who is beaten, dragged away and arrested merely due to his name when all he was trying to do was save the woman he loved. Of course we see the effect of war physically through Almasy in the horrific burning of his entire body. This film shows no huge war scenes and terrible travesties that blow off limbs and open chest cavities, but it manages to send an anti-war message stronger than I've ever seen before. No physical battle is shown, whatsoever, yet it makes me absolutely detest war due to the effect that it has on those who aren't even directly involved.
As always for a Minghella work, the performances are absolutely brilliant. Fiennes, Binoche, Thomas and Dafoe deliver some of the best work of the decade. Simply through their eyes we can see all of the pain and emotion searing through them. The right actors were definitely cast in this one. We never hear them shout or break down into a ten minute fit of crying and throwing objects across the room, but we see all of their anguish and torture simply through their eyes and facial expressions. It's a beautifully subtle way of showing emotion and really helped make the film the brilliant masterpiece that it is. I highly doubt that any other cast could have pulled it off so seamlessly.