Burning desires

The English Patient (1996)

Adapted from the novel of the same name by director Anthony Minghella and staring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe and Kristen Scott Thomas this film picked up nine Oscars. A young nurse cares for a dying man with horrible burns in a monastery in Italy during the closing stages of World War 2.

So as this film won nine Oscars it goes without saying that it is really well made, especially the make up for the title character which could really make or break a film if it looks bad. There are some really great locations and performances from the cast, just in general the film looks excellent. The ideas of nationality and ownership that run through the film work well as well as the themes of healing. Given that there is a lot of switching between time periods there is the possibility for the editing to become disorientating or confusing but again it works well.

Inevitably there are some changes and omissions from the novel and I think these both add and detract from the film. While the film does a good job of capturing most of the ideas of the film it does lose some of the subtleties. Changing the back story for the Caravaggio character does make his character work better for the direction the film takes. The real shame for me is the diminishment of the part Kip plays as one of the major themes of the piece is to do with nationality, it is also disappointing that Hana gets less of the spot light as well.

5/5 a really well made and thoughtful piece.