by George Jobson

Jul 15, 2003

"The English Patient" is a sweeping epic. Sweeping epics are movies that clock in at three hours or more. Although this film has clocked in at two and an half hours, It felt like an epic. The film is a drama about redemption after lost love. Ralph Finnes plays a count whose falls for a married woman, played by Kristen Scott Thomas. There are two very important women in the movie. The first one we mentioned the married woman played Scott-Thomas. The other very important woman in his life is played by Juliette Binoche as a nurse who stood by the bedside Finnes. He tells her about his life. The movie is powerfully done by Anthony Minghella who also wrote the screenplay based on the book. Willam Dafoe also gave a freat supporting performance. I love this movie very much. The ending is sad, but hopeful. A brilliant film. 

by Scott Jentsch

Sep 2, 2003

I'm not quite sure why this movie won the Oscar for Best Film, and was nominated for so many others. Perhaps after considering the film after some time, its values will become more obvious, but until then, its awards will remain a mystery.

Much of the story is done as a series of flashbacks, where a dying man reflects on the events leading up to present day. He tells of falling in love with the wife of another, and how that romance ultimately led to heartbreak and disaster.

The flashback portion of the story is quite engaging. The romance between Count Almásy and Katharine is quite good and at times, steamy. The viewer is drawn to this love story, only to be flung out of it when we are pulled back to the present day and the sub-plot surrounding the nurse caring for him takes over.

The flashback style of storytelling works here, since the past and present are woven together with the arrival of a man who knows of the past that Almásy is unwilling or unable to remember at first.

Removing the undeveloped and unnecessary sub-plot of the romance between the nurse and a Sikh bomb expert would have shortened this film to a more palatable length, and a more concise story.