Powerhouse Love Story

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2018)

Many filmmakers had lost the true meaning of effective powerfully executed love stories delivered with passion and depth. Under the direction of Anthony Minghella, "The English Patient" has resurrected the romantic drama by not dependent on just the direction itself (though Minghella won the Oscar for Best Director) but the clever script by Minghella, undeniable performances with pitch-perfect dialogue, flawless camera work that has sweeping levels of erotica mixed with an emotional connectivity you don't see in a lot of in movies.
Sure it's grandeur in terms of melodramatic intentions, but it does a service to the movie as opposed to just rubbing it into our faces, which makes it effective instead of manipulative. Put in the rightful hands of writer/director Anthony Minghella based on the award-winning novel by Michael Ondaatje, Minghella brings the romance between Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) and Katherine (Kristin Scott Thomas) to life so naturally, it feels like they are living the parts and not just memorizing their lines.
The opening scenes are set in World War II as we see a fighter plane from Great Britain being shot down in the deserts of North Africa. The pilot is a Hungarian Count named Laszlo Almasy (Fiennes) who survived the ordeal, but suffered terrible wounds. We meet Laszlo again in Italy in 1944, his wounds have healed up nicely, but happiness isn't going his way. He is terminally ill and has lapsed into memory loss. A weary Canadian nurse named Hana (Juliette Binoche) escorts Laszlo to a secluded peaceful church to live out his last days. While fueling his veins with morphine and reading volumes from his favourite author Herodotus, Hana is determined to regain Laszlo's memories back. They are not alone in this church as company started coming which includes a mysterious crippled soldier named Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe) who's agenda remains esoteric and two bomb analysts that include British Sgt. Hardy (Kevin Whatley) and his Sikh assistant, Kip (Naveen Andrews) who falls in love with Hana.
The story is executed through a series of flashbacks used effectively, Laszlo starts to make progress in his memories, though Caravaggio believes that Laszlo is not an amnesiac, but just wants to forget what really happened. The story shifts between the present and the events that happened during the 1930's and 1940's when Laszlo was on a map-making mission while on assignment in the Sahara, that was where he meets Katherine Clifton (Scott-Thomas) who's husband (Colin Firth) is part of this initiative. This sets the bar for Laszlo and Katherine to fall head over heals with each other while in the midst of some serious Nazi ruthlessness.
If there was a red herring about "The English Patient" is that Laszlo's dying scenes are not as etched out as his flashback sequences. The romantic entanglements between Hana and Kip is way underdeveloped due mostly because they are not fleshed out characters. Therefore, the scenes in the present are really there for filler.
Performance wise Ralph Fiennes was excellent as Laszlo another film that Fiennes likes to challenge himself with and here he's put to the test in a very complex role as a strong, introverted type until the right woman comes along and sweeps him off his feet. Kristin Scott-Thomas shines as Laszlo's love interest as she conveys beauty along with just the right amount of poise and energy that Laszlo finds hard to resist.
Though her role was minimal, Juliette Binoche is still effective in her performance as Hana. William Dafoe adds just the right amount of intensity in his performance like he does in all his movies which he's pretty good at. Rounding out the notable supporting characters are Naveen Andrews as Kip, Colin Firth as Katherine's husband and Julian Wadham as Laszlo's friend Madox.
It's rare to find intelligent epic romantic tales play out so convincingly these days. The thoughts drawn out in this movie will likely have a lingering effect on the viewers once the credits roll. It's one of those films that hits you when you watch it and it hits you once the film ends. This film came right out by award season and rightfully so after spending eight months with bad to mediocre film. This film truly saves the day.