The protagonist of the title, a manburned beyond recognition who speaks with anEnglish accent, recalls his history in a series of flashbacks, revealing to the audience his true identity and the love affair in which he was involved before the war. The film ends with an onscreen statement that it is a fictionalized account ofLászló Almásy (died 1951) and other historical figures and events. The film received widespread critical acclaim and emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office.
When a fellow nurse is killed in front of her, Hana decides she's a curse to her loved ones. She gains permission to settle in a bombed-out monastery with her patient, as he is suffering during their hospital unit's relocation. She's joined by Lieutenant Kip Singh, aSikhsapper in theBritish Indian Army posted with Sergeant Hardy to clear German mines and booby traps, and David Caravaggio, aCanadian Intelligence Corps operative who was tortured in German captivity. Caravaggio questions the patient, drawing out details of his past while Hana and Kip begin a love affair.
In the late 1930s, Hungarian cartographerLászló Almásy is exploring a region of the Sahara as part of aRoyal Geographical Society archeological and surveying expedition, which includes his good friend Englishman Peter Madox, and British couple Geoffrey and Katharine Clifton, who conduct aerial surveys with their plane.
Almásy discovers the location of the ancientCave of Swimmers, containing cave paintings. As the group documents the find, Almásy and Katharine fall in love. He writes about her in notes folded into his book, which she discovers when he awkwardly accepts two watercolours of the cave walls and asks her to paste them into the book.
They return to Cairo and begin an affair, while the group arranges for more detailed archaeological surveys of the cave and surrounding area. Almásy buys her a silver thimble as a gift. Geoffrey secretly watches her from his car and realizes she is cheating. Months later, Katharine breaks things off, fearing the repercussions from Geoffrey. When the archaeological projects are halted by the onset of the war, Madox leaves hisTiger Moth airplane atKufra Oasis and returns to Britain.
Caravaggio seeks revenge for his injuries, killing the German interrogator who cut his thumbs off and the spy who betrayed him, and seeks out whoever provided maps to the Germans, allowing them to infiltrate Cairo. He confronts Almásy about the Cliftons' death, and he concedes "Maybe ... I did".
Hana overhears Almásy telling Caravaggio about packing campin 1941 when Geoffrey arrives in the biplane. He aims at Almásy, who jumps out of the way, and crashes. Almásy finds Geoffrey dead at the controls and Katharine badly injured in the front seat. It was an attempted double murder-suicide, as he uncovered their affair. Almásy carries Katharine to the Cave of Swimmers and observes that she is still wearing the thimble he had given her as a gift and she declares she has always loved him.
Leaving her with provisions and his book, Almásy walks three days across the desert to British-heldEl Tag. He asks for help for her, but a young officer detains him on suspicion of being a spy. Transported away by train, Almásy escapes and encounters a German army unit which takes him to the Kufra Oasis, where Madox has hidden his plane. Exchanging maps for fuel, Almásy flies to the cave, finds Katharine dead, and is shot down flying her body away. After hearing the story, Caravaggio abandons his quest for revenge.
Kip is reposted after the explosives are cleared and agrees with Hana they'll meet again. Almásy tells her he's had enough by pushing vials of morphine towards her. Though distraught, Hana grants his wish, administering a lethal dose. As he drifts to sleep, she reads him Katharine's final letter, written while alone in the cave. The next morning, Hana goes with Caravaggio to Florence, clutching Almásy's book.
Triumph 3HW 350cc motorcycle specified in the novel as Kip's choice of transport and used in the film
Saul Zaentz was interested in working withAnthony Minghella after he saw Minghella's filmTruly, Madly, Deeply (1990); Minghella brought this project to Zaentz's attention.Michael Ondaatje, theSri Lankan-bornCanadian author of thenovel, worked closely with the filmmakers.[11] According to Minghella, during the development of the project with20th Century Fox, the "studio wanted the insurance policy of so-called bigger" actors.[12] Zaentz recalled, "they'd look at you and say, 'Could we castDemi Moore in the role'?"[13] After months of disputes with Fox, the studio pulled out just three weeks before production was to begin andHarvey Weinstein came in and acquired worldwide rights forMiramax Films for $27.5 million.[8][12] After Miramax Films became involved, Minghella's preference forScott Thomas in the role of Katharine was honored.[12] To help the film get made, cast and crew agreed to salarydeferrals totalling $10 million and Zaentz met the remainder of the production costs. Including the deferred costs,Variety reported the production costs at $43 million. The deferments were due to be paid after the film broke even, however, although the actors received a deferred payment of $5 million, after over three years after release, others were still waiting for their deferred salaries, subject to an audit of the figures.[8] Zaentz sued Miramax Films in 2006 claiming $20 million but the case was still unresolved when Zaentz died in 2014.[14][15]
The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film[19] by Michael Ondaatje is based on the conversations between the author and film editor.Murch, with a career that already included such complex works asthe Godfather trilogy,The Conversation, andApocalypse Now, dreaded the task of editing the film with multiple flashbacks and time frames. Once he began, the possibilities became apparent, some of which took him away from the order of the original script. A reel without sound was made so scene change visuals would be consistent with the quality of the aural aspect between the two. The final cut features over 40 temporal transitions. It was during this time that Murch met Ondaatje and they were able to exchange thoughts about editing the film.[20]
The English Patient received widespread critical acclaim, and emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, and received nineAcademy Awards, sixBAFTA awards, and twoGolden Globe Awards.
Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times called the movie "a stunning feat of literary adaptation as well as a purely cinematic triumph".[23] InThe New Yorker,Anthony Lane argues that "the triumph of the film lies not just in the force and the range of the performances—the crisp sweetness of Scott Thomas, say, versus the raw volatility of Binoche—but in Minghella's creation of an intimate epic: vast landscapes mingle with the minute details of desire, and the combination is transfixing".[24]
The film has a rating of 86% onRotten Tomatoes based on 91 reviews, with an average of 7.90/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Though it suffers from excessive length and ambition, director Minghella's adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel is complex, powerful, and moving."[25] The film also has a rating of 87/100 onMetacritic, based on 31 critical reviews.[26]Chicago Sun Times criticRoger Ebert gave the film a four-star rating, saying "it's the kind of movie you can see twice – first for the questions, the second time for the answers".[27] In his movie guide,Leonard Maltin rated the film3+1⁄2 out of 4, calling it "a mesmerizing adaptation" of Ondaatje's novel, saying "Fiennes and Scott Thomas are perfectly matched", and he concluded by calling the film "an exceptional achievement all around".[28] In 2021,The Boston Globe called the movie a "masterpiece" in a 25-year anniversary review.[29]
Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.[30]
It became the highest-grossing film in the history of Miramax with a worldwide gross of $232 million.[31][6]
The film is referred to in theSeinfeld episode "The English Patient", where the characterElaine is shunned by her friends and co-workers for disliking the film.[32]
In the US,The English Patient was first released onVHS on September 23, 1997, byBuena Vista Home Entertainment (under the Miramax Home Entertainment banner). The film received two separate US LaserDisc releases; the first on October 1, 1997 and the second on November 12, 1997. The first US LaserDisc release featuredDTS Digital Surround, while the second was aCriterion Collection edition.[63] In 1997, the film also received LaserDisc releases in France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain.[63] The film's first USDVD release on March 24, 1998 was presented inwidescreen, while the second release on June 29, 2004 was a 2-Disc edition under the "Miramax's Collector's Edition" line.[64][65]
In December 2010, Miramax was sold byThe Walt Disney Company, their owners since 1993. That same month, the studio was taken over by private equity firmFilmyard Holdings.[66] Filmyard licensed the home media rights for most of Miramax's notable titles toLionsgate, with lower profile titles being licensed toEcho Bridge Entertainment.[67] On January 31, 2012,The English Patient received aBlu-ray release throughLionsgate Home Entertainment.[65][64] In 2011, Filmyard Holdings licensed the Miramax library to streamerNetflix. This streaming deal includedThe English Patient, and ran for five years, eventually ending on June 1, 2016.[68]
Filmyard Holdings sold Miramax to Qatari companybeIN Media Group in March 2016.[69] In April 2020,ViacomCBS (now known asParamount Skydance) acquired the rights to Miramax's library, after buying a 49% stake in the studio from beIN.[70]The English Patient is among the 700 titles they acquired in the deal,[71][72][73] and since April 2020, the film has been distributed byParamount Pictures. The deal also included the much smaller library ofMiramax Television, as well as including a first look agreement with beIN/Miramax, which allows Paramount to release any future projects based on Miramax properties.[74]
In late 2020,Paramount Home Entertainment started reissuing many of the Miramax titles they had acquired, and on February 23, 2021, they reissuedThe English Patient on Blu-ray.[65][75] In March 2021, Paramount Home Entertainment also releasedThe English Patient on a ten film Blu-ray set, featuring nine other Paramount-owned films which wonAcademy Award for Best Picture. Among the other films included wereAmerican Beauty andGladiator, which Paramount acquired in 2006, via their acquisition ofDreamWorks' live-action film library (consisting of 59 films by that point).[76]
The film was made available on Paramount's subscription streaming serviceParamount+, which launched in March 2021, in addition to being made available on Paramount's free streaming servicePluto TV.[77][78]
As of August 2021, another adaptation of the novel was in early development for a newBBC television series, co-produced by Miramax Television andParamount Television Studios.[79][80]
Blakesley, David (2007). "Mapping the other:The English Patient, colonial rhetoric, and cinematic representation".The Terministic Screen: Rhetorical Perspectives on Film. Southern Illinois University Press.ISBN978-0-8093-2488-0.
Thomas, Bronwen (2000). "Piecing together a mirage: AdaptingThe English patient for the screen". In Giddings, Robert; Sheen, Erica (eds.).The Classic Novel from Page to Screen. Manchester University Press.ISBN0-7190-5230-0.
