The English Patient (film)

An interwar vintage British biplane, flying across a sea of desert, is shot down by German gunners. The badly burned pilot is pulled from the wreckage and rescued by a group of Bedouin.

Hana, a French-Canadian combat nurse of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during WWII, learns from a wounded soldier that her boyfriend has been killed in action.

In October 1944 Italy, Hana is caring for a dying, scarred-from-burns English-accented patient who says he cannot remember his name. His only possession is a copy of Herodotus' Histories, with personal notes, pictures, and mementos stored inside. When a nurse friend is killed in front of her, Hana decides she is a curse to those who love her. She gains permission to settle in a bombed-out monastery with her patient, as he suffers extra during relocations of her hospital unit.

They are soon joined by Lt. Kip, a Sikh sapper in the British Indian Army posted with Sgt. Hardy to clear German mines and booby traps. David Caravaggio, a Canadian Intelligence Corps operative who was tortured during a German interrogation, also arrives at the monastery. Caravaggio questions the patient, who gradually reveals his past through a series of flashbacks. Over the days of Almásy relating his story, Hana and Kip begin a shy love affair.

The patient reveals that in the late 1930s he was exploring a region of the Sahara. He is, in fact, Hungarian cartographer László Almásy, who was part of a Royal Geographical Society archeological and surveying expedition with a group including his good friend, Englishman Peter Madox, and British couple Geoffrey and Katharine Clifton, who own a plane and contribute with aerial surveys.

Almásy learns information from a Bedouin which helps the group discover the Cave of Swimmers, an ancient site of cave paintings. The group begins to document their find, during which time Almásy and Katharine fall in love. He writes about her in notes folded into his book, which Katharine discovers when Almásy awkwardly accepts her offer of two watercolours she has painted of the cave imagery and asks her to paste them into the book.

The two begin an affair on their return to Cairo, while the group arranges for more detailed archaeological surveys of the cave and the surrounding area. Almásy buys her a silver thimble as a gift. Some months later, Katharine abruptly ends their affair from fear Geoffrey will discover it. Shortly afterward the archaeological projects are halted due to the onset of the war. Madox leaves his Tiger Moth aeroplane at Kufra Oasis before his intended return to Britain.

Caravaggio reveals that he has been seeking revenge for his injuries, and has killed the German interrogator who cut off his thumbs and the spy who identified him, but has been searching for the man who provided maps to the Germans, allowing them to infiltrate Cairo. He suspects the patient is Almásy, asking "Did you kill the Cliftons?", to which Almásy concedes "Maybe... I did".

Reminiscing for Caravaggio, with Hana listening in from an adjoining room, Almásy recalls packing camp in 1941 when Geoffrey arrives overhead. He dives straight for Almásy, who jumps out of the way. Scrambling over to the wreckage, he finds Geoffrey dead at the controls and Katharine badly injured in the front seat. She tells him Geoffrey knew, and was attempting a double murder-suicide. Almásy carries her to the Cave of Swimmers. He notices she is wearing a chain bearing his gift, and she declares she has always loved him.

Leaving her in the cave with provisions and his book, Almásy walks three days cross-desert. Arriving at British-held El Tag, he explains the desperate situation and asks for help, but a young officer detains Almásy on suspicion of being a spy. Transported away by train, Almásy escapes and eventually comes into contact with a German army unit. They take him to the Kufra Oasis, where Madox has hidden his plane. Exchanging maps for fuel, Almásy takes to the air and finally reaches the cave, where he confirms that Katharine has died. He carries her body to the plane, and he is burned when shot down, connecting to the start of the film. After hearing the story, Caravaggio gives up his quest for revenge.

Kip is reposted once he has cleared the area of explosives; he and Hana agree they will meet again. Later, pushing several vials of morphine toward Hana, Almásy tells her he has had enough. Though visibly upset, she grants his wish and administers a lethal dose. As he drifts to sleep, she reads him Katharine's final letter, written to Almásy while she was alone in the cave. The next morning Caravaggio returns with a friend, and they get a lift to Florence. Hana holds Almásy's book tight as they ride away.

In addition, Torri Higginson plays Mary and Liisa Repo-Martell plays the soon-killed Jan, appearing briefly as Hana's nursing corps colleagues.

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 with Anthony Minghella after he saw the director's film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990); Minghella brought this project to the producer's attention. Michael Ondaatje, the Sri Lankan-born Canadian author of the novel, worked closely with the filmmakers.[11] During the development of the project with 20th Century Fox, according to Minghella, the "studio wanted the insurance policy of so-called bigger" actors.[12] Zaentz recalled, "they'd look at you and say, 'Could we cast Demi Moore in the role'?"[13] Not until Miramax Films took over was the director's preference for Scott Thomas accepted.[12]

The film was shot on location in Tunisia and Italy.[14] with a production budget of $31 million.[7]

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film (2002)[15] by Michael Ondaatje is based on the conversations between the author and film editor. Murch, with a career that already included such complex works as the Godfather trilogy, The Conversation, and Apocalypse 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.[16]

Two types of aircraft are used in the film,[17] a De Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth and a Boeing-Stearman Model 75. Both are biplanes.[18] The camp crash scene was made with a 1⁄2-size scale model.

The Hungarian folk song, "Szerelem, Szerelem", performed by Muzsikas featuring Márta Sebestyén, was featured in the film.

The film received widespread critical acclaim, was a box office success and received nine Academy Awards, six BAFTA awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.

The film has a "Certified Fresh" rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 91 reviews, with an average rating 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."[19] The film also has a rating of 87/100 on Metacritic, based on 31 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[20] Chicago Sun Times critic Roger 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".[21] In his movie guide, Leonard Maltin rated the film 3+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".[22]

Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.[23]

It became the highest-grossing film in the history of Miramax with a worldwide gross of $232 million.[24][6]

When released on VHS in 1997, Miramax Home Entertainment released the movie on both two VHS Tapes (in mid-1997) and one VHS tape (in early 1998). The double-tape release is much harder to come by and has a slightly different sleeve design on both the tapes and case. The double tape has the cover art on the front of the case slightly cropped more to the right than the single-tape release and has the 'Recommend this Hit to Friends!' disclaimer on the tape sleeve, indicating a slightly older release. It also has a '--Part 1--' or '--Part 2--' disclaimer. Neither of these gimmicks are present on the single-tape release of the movie.

Also to note is the previews on each version of the original release: the two-tape version has several previews (including previews for The Horse Whisperer, Evita, and First Do No Harm) plus a promo for the movie's soundtrack. The single-tape version has no previews, aside from a promo for the book The English Patient.

In 1998, the film was re-released on a single VHS tape in widescreen. The cover has a widescreen banner and has the image cropped properly, unlike the two earlier releases. This was also the first DVD release of the movie.

Over the next several years, it would be re-released in America on VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray.

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Wikiquote has quotations related to The English Patient.

• The English Patient at IMDb 
• The English Patient at Box Office Mojo
• The English Patient at Rotten Tomatoes
• The English Patient at Metacritic
• Laszlo Almásy: the real English patient