The English Patient is a 1996 film about love and war. It was directed by Anthony Minghella, who also wrote the screenplay based on a 1992 book by Michael Ondaatje. Saul Zaentz helped produce the movie. The film features Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas, with Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, and Colin Firth in smaller roles.

The main character is a man who is badly burned and cannot be recognized. He speaks with an English accent and shares his past through memories, showing his true identity and a love story from before the war. At the end, the film explains that it is a made-up version of real people, including László Almásy, who died in 1951, and other historical events. The movie was widely praised and became very popular.

The film was nominated for 12 awards at the 69th Academy Awards, winning 9, including Best Picture, Best Director for Minghella, and Best Supporting Actress for Binoche. It was the first film to win an Oscar for Best Editing using computer technology. Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas were also nominated for their acting. The film received six BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globes. The British Film Institute listed The English Patient as the 55th greatest British film of the 20th century. The American Film Institute ranked it the 56th greatest love story of all time.

Plot

German soldiers shoot down a British biplane flying over a desert. A group of Bedouin people rescue the pilot, who is badly burned.

Hana, a nurse in the French-Canadian Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, learns from a wounded soldier that her boyfriend has died. In October 1944 in Italy, she cares for a dying patient with severe burns. The patient cannot remember his name and carries a copy of Herodotus's Histories filled with personal notes, pictures, and mementos.

After a fellow nurse is killed in front of her, Hana believes she brings harm to those she loves. She is allowed to stay in a bombed-out monastery with her patient, as he struggles during the hospital’s move. She is joined by Lieutenant Kip Singh, a Sikh sapper in the British Indian Army working with Sergeant Hardy to remove German mines and traps, and David Caravaggio, a Canadian Intelligence Corps officer who was tortured by the Germans. Caravaggio interviews the patient, learning details about his past, while Hana and Kip begin a relationship.

In the late 1930s, Hungarian cartographer László Almásy explores the Sahara with a Royal Geographical Society expedition. His group includes his friend Peter Madox, and British couple Geoffrey and Katharine Clifton, who use a plane for aerial surveys.

Almásy discovers the ancient Cave of Swimmers, which has cave paintings. As the group documents the site, Almásy and Katharine fall in love. He writes about her in notes folded into his book, which she finds when he awkwardly accepts two watercolor paintings of the cave and asks her to add them to the book.

They return to Cairo and begin an affair, while the group plans more detailed surveys of the cave. Almásy gives Katharine a silver thimble as a gift. Geoffrey secretly watches her and learns she is cheating. Later, Katharine ends the relationship, fearing Geoffrey’s reaction. When war begins, Madox leaves his Tiger Moth airplane at Kufra Oasis and returns to Britain.

Caravaggio seeks revenge for his injuries, killing the German interrogator who cut his thumbs and the spy who betrayed him. He investigates who provided maps to the Germans, allowing them to infiltrate Cairo. He confronts Almásy about the Cliftons’ deaths, and Almásy admits, “Maybe… I did.”

Hana overhears Almásy telling Caravaggio about packing camp in 1941 when Geoffrey arrives in a biplane. Geoffrey aims his plane at Almásy, who jumps away, causing the plane to crash. Almásy finds Geoffrey dead at the controls and Katharine seriously injured in the front seat. This was an attempt to kill both Katharine and himself after he discovered their affair. Almásy carries Katharine to the Cave of Swimmers, where he sees she still wears the thimble he gave her. She tells him she has always loved him.

Almásy leaves Katharine with supplies and his book, walking three days across the desert to British-held El Tag. He asks for help, but a young officer suspects him of being a spy. Transported by train, Almásy escapes and meets a German unit that takes him to Kufra Oasis, where Madox has hidden his plane. After trading maps for fuel, Almásy flies to the cave, finds Katharine dead, and is shot down while carrying her body away. After hearing the story, Caravaggio stops his revenge.

Kip is reassigned after clearing explosives and agrees to meet Hana again. Almásy tells Hana he is ready to end his life by offering her vials of morphine. Though sad, Hana gives him a lethal dose. As he sleeps, she reads Katharine’s final letter, written while alone in the cave. The next morning, Hana goes with Caravaggio to Florence, holding Almásy’s book.

Cast

Also, Torri Higginson plays Mary, and Liisa Repo-Martell plays Jan. They appear for a short time as Hana's nursing corps colleagues.

Production

Saul Zaentz wanted to work with Anthony Minghella after watching his film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990). Minghella shared the project with Zaentz. Michael Ondaatje, a Canadian author who wrote the novel, worked closely with the filmmakers. Minghella said that during the project’s development with 20th Century Fox, the studio wanted to cast well-known actors instead of focusing on the story. Zaentz remembered that the studio asked, “Could we cast Demi Moore in the role?” After disagreements with Fox, the studio left the project three weeks before filming was to begin. Harvey Weinstein then joined and bought worldwide rights for Miramax Films for $27.5 million. After Miramax became involved, Minghella’s choice of actress Scarlett Johansson for the role of Katharine was respected. To help the film get made, the cast and crew agreed to delay their salaries, totaling $10 million. Zaentz covered the rest of the production costs. Including the deferred salaries, the film’s total cost was $43 million. The deferred payments were to be made once the film covered its costs. However, after more than three years since the film’s release, some actors still waited for their deferred salaries, pending an audit. Zaentz sued Miramax Films in 2006 for $20 million, but the case was still unresolved when Zaentz died in 2014.

The film was shot on location in Tunisia and Italy.

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje is based on interviews between the author and film editor Walter Murch. Murch, who had previously worked on films like The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now, found editing the film’s complex structure with multiple flashbacks and time shifts challenging. As he worked, he discovered new ways to arrange scenes that differed from the original script. A reel without sound was created to ensure visual transitions matched the quality of the audio scenes. The final version of the film includes over 40 changes in time. During this process, Murch met Ondaatje and discussed editing techniques.

In the film, two types of biplanes were used: a De Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth and a Boeing-Stearman Model 75. The crash scene was created using a half-scale model.

The Hungarian folk song “Szerelem, Szerelem,” performed by Muzsikás featuring Márta Sebestyén, was included in the film.

Reception

The English Patient received a lot of praise from critics and was very successful at the box office. It won nine Academy Awards, six BAFTA awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.

Janet Maslin from The New York Times said the movie was an impressive adaptation of a book and a great cinematic achievement. Anthony Lane from The New Yorker wrote that the film’s success comes not only from the strong acting but also from the way director Anthony Minghella created a story that blends large, sweeping scenes with small, personal moments.

The movie has an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 91 reviews, with an average score of 7.90 out of 10. The site’s summary says the film is complex and moving, though some critics felt it was too long and ambitious. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 31 reviews. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave it four stars, saying it is a movie worth watching twice—once for its questions and once for its answers. Leonard Maltin, in his movie guide, gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars, calling it a mesmerizing adaptation of the book and saying the actors were perfectly matched. In 2021, The Boston Globe called the movie a "masterpiece" during a 25-year anniversary review.

Audiences who saw the film gave it an "A−" grade on a scale from A+ to F.

The film became the most successful movie in Miramax’s history, earning $232 million worldwide.

In a Seinfeld episode titled "The English Patient," a character named Elaine is avoided by friends and coworkers because she disliked the film.

Accolades

In 2009, The English Patient was listed in The Guardian's list of 25 best British films from the past 25 years.

Home media and rights

The film The English Patient was first released on VHS in the United States on September 23, 1997, by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which was part of Miramax Home Entertainment at the time. It had two different US LaserDisc releases: the first on October 1, 1997, and the second on November 12, 1997. The first LaserDisc included DTS Digital Surround sound, while the second was a special edition from the Criterion Collection. In 1997, the film was also released on LaserDisc in France, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Spain. The first US DVD release came on March 24, 1998, in widescreen format. A second DVD release was made on June 29, 2004, as a 2-Disc edition under the "Miramax's Collector's Edition" line.

In December 2010, Miramax was sold by The Walt Disney Company, which had owned it since 1993. That same month, the studio was acquired by Filmyard Holdings, a private equity firm. Filmyard gave the rights to sell Miramax's popular films on physical formats like DVD and Blu-ray to Lionsgate, while smaller titles were licensed to Echo Bridge Entertainment. On January 31, 2012, The English Patient was released on Blu-ray by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In 2011, Filmyard licensed Miramax's film library to Netflix for streaming, a deal that included The English Patient and lasted until June 1, 2016.

In March 2016, Filmyard sold Miramax to beIN Media Group, a company based in Qatar. In April 2020, ViacomCBS (now known as Paramount Skydance) acquired the rights to Miramax's film library after purchasing a 49% share of the studio from beIN. The English Patient was one of the 700 films included in this deal. Since April 2020, the film has been distributed by Paramount Pictures. This agreement also included Miramax Television's smaller library and a deal allowing Paramount to release future projects based on Miramax properties.

In late 2020, Paramount Home Entertainment began reissuing many of the Miramax films it had acquired. On February 23, 2021, The English Patient was reissued on Blu-ray. In March 2021, Paramount also released the film on a Blu-ray set that included ten other films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. These films included American Beauty and Gladiator, which Paramount had acquired in 2006 through its purchase of DreamWorks' live-action film library.

The film is now available on Paramount's subscription streaming service, Paramount+, which launched in March 2021. It is also available on Paramount's free streaming service, Pluto TV.

Television adaptation

In August 2021, a new version of the novel was being planned for a BBC television series, with Miramax Television and Paramount Television Studios working together on the project. In March 2023, it was announced that the project was stopped.