Love amid War. Review on The English Patient Movie

They say “All is fair in love and war”. But if Cupid strikes even as the enemy is firing missiles at you, how fair is that? Very fair, I should say, but also very complicated. Enough movies have been made through the decades that tell the tales - sometimes tearful and sometimes triumphant - of lovers tormented by war and political instability. What lends an extra pinch to the pain is the knowledge that ‘war is futile’ (though Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Robert Aumann would argue that “war is rational”, hence logical and therefore not-so-futile - but that rationale is explained by the use of Game Theory). Add to this a passionate extra-marital affair, and now the stage is set for a multi-layered story to unfold.

The Setting: World War II – 1939

A small English aircraft is flying across the African desert carrying a man and a woman. It is spotted by army men on the ground and “boom-boom!” the air resounds as the craft comes crashing down, a ball of fire.

The man (pilot) is still alive – burning and alive. Local Arabs in the region rescue him, bandage his charred body, and carry him away. He is now a “ghost” – alive, but not quite…wounded and unrecognizable, lost and forgotten, with a memory lapse and with nowhere to go. He somehow reaches the Red Cross camps and this nameless, faceless man comes to be known as “the English patient” and this is his story.

The English Patient is a critically acclaimed cinematic venture (the screenplay is adapted from Michael Ondaatje’s novel titled the same), a Saul Zaentz production. In 1997, The English Patient bagged nine Oscars. An Academy Award is undoubtedly a feather in one’s cap, and in case of TEP, we have a whole cap made of feathers. The merit of the Oscars cannot be undermined, and forces one to believe in and take notice of the talent/quality one may otherwise not consider. And why not? The awards can be looked at as an extra topping on an already rich pizza! But with TEP, something is terribly amiss. This pizza smells great, the base is crisp and the toppings taste good, however, as a whole, it is not appetizing and fails to satiate the taste buds.

The English patient has a tale to tell, and as he takes us through his past in bits and pieces of flashback, he has a Canadian nurse, Hana (Juliette Binoche) by his side. Fragmented images still haunt him as he tries hard to recollect and narrate his story. The viewer is now with him in his journey into the past.

A Hungarian count, Laszlo Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) along with others of the Royal Geographical Society is working on a project for the British army. The group is preparing maps of the region (North Africa) and carrying out expeditions. A bold, uninhibited, ‘not-scared-of-the-desert’ kind of a woman by the name Katharine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas), the wife of one member enters the scene. There is apparent chemistry between the two from the beginning and soon this subdued, under the surface romance turns into a passionate affair. There are some very well executed erotic scenes that effectively convey their romance. The scenes are bold and yet sad, since it is an extra marital affair. The husband of Katharine (Colin Firth) is perfect in his restrained performance. He portrays the sad husband who knows about his wife’s affair and yet tries to ignore it.

The next layer in the script is the war in the backdrop. It is about to come to an end but its effects are long lasting. The compassionate nurse is by her patient’s side, trying to heal him. She reads to him, feeds him, cares for him, even kisses him goodnight as they stick it out alone in an isolated building in the suburbs. Her dedication is spell binding. Juliette Binoche is excellent as the nurse (no wonder she won an award), but hers is the least developed of all the characters. Especially since she has an important role, she deserved a better script. This is one of the sore points of the movie – the performance is so perfect, the role is so fine, but her character is half-baked. What a pity!

Ralph Fiennes delivers yet again. For me, he and Juliette Binoche steal the show. Kristin Scott Thomas fails to impress entirely, though she has a lot of screen time and a lot of the lead’s attention too. She is good as the seductive, hopelessly in love, yet withdrawn English woman, but there is something amiss. She does not steal your heart. Ralph Fiennes, on the other hand, tugs at your heartstrings. In each portrayal – of the jealous/possessive lover, the unfaithful friend and the helpless patient – he is just right.

Yes, the story has layers. Yes, it unfolds in a fascinating way…one step at a time. Yes, it is spectacular. But it is not engrossing. It is a little too long, a little too slow, and just a little too much.

The nurse injects the English patient with extra morphine to end his pain (both literally and figuratively speaking) and he dies after finishing his story. The war comes to an end. Hana moves to another region. But the love story lingers on…