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DVD The English Patient (Miramax Collector's Edition)
Winner of nine Academy Awards and almost every critic's heart, The English Patient (based on Michael Ondaatje's prizewinning novel of love and loss during World War II) is one of the most acclaimed films of modern times. Hana, a nurse, (Juliette Binoche) tends to an archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) who has been burnt to a crisp in a plane crash. As their relationship intensifies, he flashes back to his overwhelming passion for a married woman (Kristin Scott Thomas). Meanwhile, Hana begins a new romance with a man who defuses bombs (Naveen Andrews) and Willem Dafoe almost steals the show as the thumbless thief Caravaggio. The intricately layered flashback narrative, sounding the depths of the lovers' hearts, improves with repeated viewings--especially with the sharp picture and digital sound of the digital video disc.
Review(s): DVD The English Patient (Miramax Collector's Edition)
"The English Patient" is several cuts above average
This movie has some quite beautiful moments and was quite enjoyable. Some people will complain that it is too slow, and it certainly will be for those who prefer drama of the "Rambo" or Steven Seagal genre or are otherwise unable to appreciate some of its subtleties. I've heard at least one reviewer complain that the main characters are 'narcissistic' and self-absorbed because they're not worried about the global political implications of their actions or because they are unable to perform the morally correct actions on cue - I'm not sure whether to laugh at this comment or feel pity for the empty life of the person who would make it.
One warning - this film has a strong 'chick flick' component, and some of the overwrought mawkishness of the latter parts of the movie does detract from what are some truly scintillatingly subtle moments, such as when Count Almásy tries to warn Katherine's husband about leaving her with the team in the desert. What a great, great scene.
This movie does not glorify adultery. An accurate portrayal of the passions that produce such a liaison should not be confused with sympathy - such portrayals should be viewed as an explanation, not an excuse. The fact that this illicit love affair ends up destroying everyone that Katherine and Count Almásy hold dear, before it ends up consuming both of them as well should be enough for anyone looking for a morally correct result.
Almost unspeakably brilliant
No better critique of the British single-payer health care system has ever been committed to celluloid. Of particular note among the DVD extras is an alternative ending in which Laszlo de Almasy is transfered to a U.S. hospital and cured within days, and an audio commentary produced by the Brookings Institute.
A Beautiful Painting
This rare and beautiful film, based on a book that is felt as much as read, transcends the medium to become art. Painted on a vast desert canvas with deep rich oils, its beauty is felt as much as seen. This film will find your heart and remain there forever. If love had a face, it would look like this.
Director Anthony Minghella's screenplay shifts the center of Michael Ondaatje's story slightly in order to capture on film the essence of his beautiful prose. Ondaatje's novel is one of poetic beauty, a potrait of a rose beneath the water's surface. The film brings that beautiful rose out of the water and into the sunlight. The book and the film are so deeply intertwined you can not watch this film without wanting to read the book, nor can you read the book without wanting to see the film. The story itself centers around three people either in love with, or haunted by ghosts they have loved and lost to war.
Juliette Binoche gives an Oscar winning performance as Hana, a kind nurse with a gentle spirit but a damaged heart. She latches onto the burned and charred body of a man known only as the English patient, and ends up caring for him in a shell ravaged Italian villa in Tuscany where she feeds him plums and reads to him. When a man named Caravaggio with scars of his own arrives, the mystery of who the English patient really is begins to unfold via flashbacks. In the present, Hana begins to let her heart heal when she falls in love with a Sikh who disarms bombs left by the Germans.
It is the memories of the English patient, however, which are at the heart of this film. Ralph Fiennes gives a subtle performance as the introspective Almasy, part of an international expedition mapping an unending desert with both the romance, and the danger of the sea. Kristin Scott Thomas is wonderful as Katherine Clifton, the stunningly beautiful and enigmatic wife of a fellow mapper. An instant but unspoken attraction between she and Almasy finally becomes too unbearable to ignore and the affair that holds the key to the mystery surrounding the English patient begins.
This is one of the most romantic films ever made and is filled with the joy and anguish of love and war. It shows that while war may create logistical lines that can not be crossed, the heart has no boundaries. Anyone who has ever experienced a love of such emotional intensity and physical longing that love and need became one will understand the love affair of Katherine and Almasy.
Cinematographer John Seale has given this film a grace and beauty seldom seen on film. A haunting score full of mystery and romance from Gabriel Yard accompany scenes never to be forgotten, and will not be described here in case you have not yet seen them. Director Anthony Minghella explores the mystery of the desert, and the heart, which according to the "The Histories" by Herodotus, a book the English patient clings to, is an organ of fire.
If there is but one ounce of romance in your soul, you will love "The English Patient." It is a well charted and romantic map of the human heart, as wide and treacherous as the unending desert. This will be one of your favorite films once you see it. I promise.
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