Excellent film best of 1996

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 1999)

Once again, it seems I must rise to defend yet another film from the most prevalent syndrome of the 90's; yes, the backlash syndrome. No sooner does a film that is popular with critics, audiences, or both, than comes a knee-jerk instinct for someone to say, "If other people like it, or love it, this must stink!" I'm not denying there were people who honestly didn't like this, but if there's one trend I'd like to see disappear, it's the backlash syndrome.
Anyway, I thought this film was terrific. First, it looked stunning, and director Anthony Minghella gave each story a distinct look, from the browns and whites of the desert, and the past love affair between Almasy and Catherine, to the rainbow like colors of Italy, and the story of Hana taking care of the mysterious "English Patient." As big a fan as I am of dialogue scenes, what I remember from this movie is some of the images, especially the scene with Hana looking at wall murals while going up and down on a rope line. Second, he takes the story of the novel (which I liked) and makes it more accessible without losing the essentially elliptic tone. So the two stories - Almasy and Catherine, Hana and Kip(and, essentially, ghosts) - come together without being sentimental. Lastly, the performances. Like their stories, Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche create two different women, one cool on the outside and passionate on the inside, the other vice versa. Like one critic pointed out, it's like both are joined together in Almasy's mind, since they're two sides of the same coin. And Ralph Fiennes continues his string of excellent performances, being caustic and remote while hiding a deep and smoldering love for Catherine, and then turning around and being fatalistic and witty to comfort Hana. This was my favorite film of 1996, and it stands that way, no matter what the "backlash" crowd feels.