The English Patient

If the Oscar-winning Braveheart was 1995's most overrated film, The English Patient, based on Michael Ondaatje's poetic but episodic Booker Prize winning novel, was 1996's. Walking away with 9 Academy Awards, this (purportedly) romantic adventure, weighing in at a very respectful 162 minutes--which made it prime statuette bait, since Oscar likes 'em long--stars Ralph Fiennes (as the titular English patient), Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, and Naveen Andrews as four WWII-shocked people who are implausibly thrown together in a ruined Tuscany monastery. While Hana (Binoche) tends to the badly burned and amnesiac English patient, he gradually regains his memory, relating the story of his pre-war mapping expedition in the deserts of North Africa, where he meets and falls in love with the married Katherine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas). In fact, the pair start their relationship by quoting Herodotus to one another, and if you can swallow that bit of extraordinary coincidence, maybe you'll believe their torrid romance. I didn't. Beautifully filmed, The English Patient is the cinematic equivalent of a coffee table book. You'll want to have a copy, but you won't necessarily enjoy watching it. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review--July 13, 2004--Miramax, 2 discs, 162 min., R, $29.99--Making its second appearance on DVD as part of Miramax's “Collector's Series,” this exclusive double-disc version of the Oscar-wining The English Patient includes audio commentaries (one by director Anthony Minghella; the other by Minghella, producer Saul Zaentz, and author Michael Ondaatje), five segments “About Michael Ondaatje” (2-8 mins. each) including a reading from the novel, “From Novel to Screenplay” cast/crew interviews (7 min.), “The Formidable Saul Zaentz” (2 min.), “A Historical Look at the Real County Almasy” (8 min.), multi-segment “Filmmaker Conversations” (with Minghella, Zaentz, Ondaatje, and editor Walter Murch), “The Work of Stuart Craig” on production design (4 min.), “The Eyes of Phil Bray” on still photography (3 min.), “Master Class with Anthony Minghella” with deleted scenes (20 min.), a CBC making-of documentary (53 min.), three text reviews, and trailers. Bottom line: although we still find this to be one of the more overrated recent Oscar winners, this extras-heavy version (also in anamorphic widescreen for the first time) offers good value for a film that belongs in most collections.][Blu-ray Review—Mar. 13, 2012—Lionsgate, 162 min., R, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1996's The English Patient features a fine transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including two audio commentaries (the first by director Anthony Minghella; the second by Minghella, producer Saul Zaentz, and author Michael Ondaatje), a CBC-produced “making-of” featurette (53 min.), a “Master Class with Anthony Minghella” segment with deleted scenes (20 min.), five pieces “About Michael Ondaatje” (2-8 mins. each) including a reading from the novel, “A Historical Look at the Real Count Almasy” (8 min.), “From Novel to Screenplay” interviews with cast and crew including Minghella and costar Willem Dafoe (7 min.), “The Formidable Saul Zaentz” (2 min.), multi-segment “Filmmaker Conversations” (with Minghella, Zaentz, Ondaatje, and editor Walter Murch), “The Work of Stuart Craig” on production design (4 min.), “The Eyes of Phil Bray” on still photography (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: an impressive budget-priced Blu-ray debut for this multiple Oscar winner.]