7.4/10
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475 user 122 critic

The English Patient (1996)

At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.

Director:

Writers:

(novel), (screenplay)
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Popularity
1,693 ( 14)

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Won 9 Oscars. Another 53 wins & 75 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
Kip
...
...
...
...
Sgt. Hardy
...
Fenelon-Barnes
...
D'Agostino
Hichem Rostom ...
Fouad
Peter Rühring ...
Bermann
Geordie Johnson ...
...
Mary
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Storyline

October 1944 in war torn Italy. Hana, a French-Canadian nurse working in a mobile army medical unit, feels like everything she loves in life dies on her. Because of the difficulty traveling and the dangers, especially as the landscape is still heavily booby-trapped with mines, Hana volunteers to stay behind at a church to care solely for a dying semi-amnesiac patient, who is badly burned and disfigured. She agrees to catch up to the rest of the unit after he dies. All the patient remembers is that he is English and that he is married. Their solitude is disrupted with the arrival at the church of fellow Canadian David Caravaggio, part of the Intelligence Service, who is certain that he knows the patient as a man who cooperated with the Germans. Caravaggio believes that the patient's memory is largely in tact and that he is running away from his past, in part or in its entirety. The patient does open up about his past, all surrounding his work as a cartographer in North Africa, which ... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

In memory, love lives forever. See more »

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, some violence and language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

| | |

Release Date:

6 December 1996 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Le patient anglais  »

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Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$278,439, 17 November 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$78,651,430, 7 September 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,700,000
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (rough cut)

Sound Mix:

| (8 channels)|

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Was the first digitally-edited film to win an Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Walter Murch). Murch began editing the film mechanically, but then switched to the Avid system after his son suffered a medical emergency so that he could work from his home while his son recovered. Murch writes about the experience in his book "In the Blink of an Eye (2nd Ed.)." See more »

Goofs

Just after Katherine pretends to faint at the Christmas party, we see Almásy remove his red paper crown. In the next shot, as Katherine is leaving the party, Almásy removes his crown again. See more »

Quotes

Katharine Clifton: You speak so many bloody languages, and you never want to talk.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The producer and director wish to thank The Tozeur District Governor. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Dog Park (1998) See more »

Soundtracks

Where or When
(1937)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Published by Williamson Music, Inc. & Chappell & Co.
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Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Anthony Minghella's Heart and Mind
19 May 2009 | by See all my reviews

It is a strangely powerful and moving experience to see "The English Patient" again after Anthony Minghella's death. Most of his body of work is dedicated to one shattering point. The endless moral struggle of those who, consciously, walk a very thin line. In "The Talented Mr Ripley" Minghella moves away from Patricia Highsmith's amoral Tom Ripley to give the murderer a conscience. In "Breaking And Entering" Minghella gives Jude Law's character the need to confess and the rewards are chillingly moving. Here, in "The English Patient", the characters in love are never too far away from their corroding feeling of guilt. Ralph Finnes and Kristin Scott Thomas are extraordinary. They strip their characters from every pretense in a compelling complicity with us, the audience. Juliette Binoche is, quite simply, spectacular and her scenes with the wonderful Naveen Andrews are filled with a "Minghellian" sensual innocence. Anthony Minghella gave us films that were,one way or another, that elusive mix of art and commerce. He was true to himself but thought about his audience. He knew how to push our buttons without betraying his own. There is something clear, honest and startling about Minghella's opus. I miss him already but I'm grateful for the reflection of his soul he left behind.


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