Set in North Africa and Italy during the late 1930's and early '40's, The English Patient is an epic drama of two haunting love stories that unfolds against a background of international upheaval. Through the prism of war, and of love and friendship, various themes of fidelity, adultery, nationality and betrayals are dramatized and explored. The story, based on Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel, is told elliptically, through the histories of four characters who find themselves in a ruined monastery in Italy at the end of World War II. Slowly they reveal themselves and, in the process, the true identity of the English patient, the unknown survivor of a plane shot down over the Sahara who lies dying in the monastery is made clear. Passion fires these stories, whether it is the raw passion between lovers, or the compulsive passion which drives men to explore remote and inhospitable regions, or to pursue across time and countries those they think! have wronged them.
cast
Juliette Binoche as Hana Ralph Fiennes as Almásy
quote
Hana: I'm not in love with him. I'm in love with ghosts... And so is he, he's in love with ghosts.
Colin Firth has starred in movies such as Bridget Jones Diary and the sequel, Edge of Reason, as well as Love Actually, Hope Springs, Shakespeare in Love, Blackadder, the English Patient, and Pride and Prejudice to name a few. He is THE English romantic hero of the new century, ousting Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones. Very cute ;D Source: Ezthemes Size: (238 Kb)
David Lean, I think, would have liked "The English Patient". It has all the earmarks of one of his films--exotic scenery, convoluted plot, lush music, British accents and enough length to numb ones backside without actually making one long for the credits.
