Film review – Colette – 27/3/97
Having read Michael Ondaatje’s poetic, Booker Prize-winning novel, “The English Patient”, I had some reservations about the film. I felt it would be too difficult a task for any film maker to bring such an oblique story to life. And to some extent, I feel I was right. The subtleties of the book have not, in my opinion, made it onto the screen. But having said that, I feel that the substance of the story is real and powerful on screen in a way that the book was not.
It is a film suitable for mature audiences, somewhat reminiscent of the David Lean epics, “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Dr Zhivago”.
“The English Patient ” is two stories in one, taking place within a few years of each other during the Second World War. A man burnt beyond recognition is one of many wounded being transported through Tuscany within a military Red Cross convoy. The road is dotted with mines and the man is dying. His Canadian nurse (Juliette Binoche) chooses to leave the convoy and care for her patient in an abandoned monastery. The dying man claims to have no memory of any events leading up to the time when he became officially listed as “The English Patient.” His story, set in the deserts of North Africa, unfolds through a series of flashbacks, balanced within the story taking place in the abandoned monastery.
Ralph Fiennes (“Schindler’s List “, “Quiz Show”) is the handsome, intense Count Almasy. Kristin Scott Thomas (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Mission Impossible”) is Katherine Clifton, the woman with whom he falls passionately in love, in spite of an aloof determination to the contrary. Both Fiennes and Scott Thomas are superb in these roles.
Anthony Minghella, director and screen writer, states that it is the emotion and the passion that sustains this film. And I agree. The passion in this film would swell the heart and emotions of the least romantic. Adding to this is an excellent, haunting music score – with the Academy of St Martins in the Fields among the music credits – plus some stunning cinematography. The opening scene took my breath away as did several others, including a spectacular special effects scene of a plane crash. For all of the above I will see this movie again.
On the down side, I feel the film fell short of reality in a couple of areas. The leading women have fallen prey to Hollywood’s need to keep their women beautiful. One hacks at her long hair which magically turns into a short style of the ’90s. The other’s face remains perfect, without so much as a scratch or bruise after a horrific crash. This lack of detail – or pathetic Hollywood touch? – in a film of such magnitude was disappointing. In fact, it annoyed me to the point that it stopped me from losing myself in the fantasy of film.
Does it deserve all the accolades Hollywood seems intent on heaping upon it? I don’t think it does. But it is, in my opinion, a wonderful, passionate film, worthy of a full price ticket – and in my case, a return viewing.
