Well, once more my summer sabbatical for family time extended way past the terminal date I’d originally planned on in my mind…But we (myself and the Best Picture winners, that is) are finally back–and thank you for your patience and continued support of FlicksChick.com!
And now, please allow me to introduce you to our 69th BP winner, The English Patient (1996; Tiger Moth Production, Miramax Films), a movie which often finds itself counted in the ranks of present-day critics’ selections for worst Best Picture winners ever (what a film to restart the blog with, eh?). Of course, we must take those rankings lists with a grain of salt, for they are subjective. Sometimes current reviews of past films are just hilarious: For instance, next week’s BP Titanic actually makes some people’s lists of worst movies ever made, which I find kind of comical. But, hey, not every film is every person’s cup of tea.
Speaking of tea, back to The English Patient. Despite its lukewarm following nowadays, The English Patient captured 9 Oscars out of its 12 nominations, making it one of the winningest films in the Academy’s history (it currently ranks fifth in number of Oscars received, tied with 1958’s Gigi and 1987’s The Last Emperor). The English Patient took home little golden men in these categories: Costume Design, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound, Music (Original Dramatic Score), Actress in a Supporting Role for Juliette Binoche as Hana, Directing for Anthony Minghella, and Best Picture (it failed to win for Writing [Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published], Actress in a Leading Role for Kristin Scott Thomas as Katharine Clifton, and Actor in a Leading Role for Ralph Fiennes as Count Almasy).
Following its Academy Award success, The English Patient‘s subsequent drop in popularity is most likely due to the fact that it is lengthy, slow (at most parts), and tells its viewer from the beginning that its story is just going to be downright sad and depressing. The film throws its moody characters into the gorgeous African landscapes of Lawrence of Arabia and Out of Africa (complete with early model airplanes), but its at-times baffling plot can’t rescue the characters from the actuality that they are mostly unlikeable; and therefore, their plights don’t arouse sufficient emotional attachments and reactions from the film’s audience.
Despite the fact that The English Patient is a downer, there are moments, however, when the script is almost poetically beautiful. Anthony Minghella based his script on Michael Ondaatje’s 1992 novel of the same name. Even though it is dense and complex, the book version of The English Patient was a huge success as well, winning several literary awards. Loosely based (we’re talking extremely loosely here) on the story of a few historical persons, namely Count Almasy, The English Patient (both novel and film) joined the ranks of 1990s works chronicling aspects of World War II. The ’90s marked the 50th anniversary of most of the war years, as well as the war’s end, which made the final decade of the twentieth century a prime time to memorialize what Tom Brokaw (in his now-famous 1998 book) called “the greatest generation.” The funny thing is that Count Almasy was in reality probably a spy for the Nazis, rather than the dashing, Byronic hero The English Patient makes him out to be. So again, the film falls short of the heights it could have reached had it chosen to focus less on sensuality and more on the inspiring feats of those who actually set their own desires aside to combat evil.
For more thoughts on The English Patient and its significance, please check out this weekend’s post!