The English Patient

The English Patient is a novel by Michael Ondaatje which deals with the gradually revealed histories of a critically burned man, his Canadian nurse, a thief, and a British Army sapper as they live out the end of World War II in an Italian monastery.

Novel
The English Patient is in part a sequel to Ondaatje's earlier work In the Skin of a Lion; the characters of Hana and Caravaggio reappear from the earlier novel.

One of the main characters, the burned man, is Count László de Almásy, a famous Austro-Hungarian researcher of the Sahara Desert, disciple of Herodotus, and discoverer of the Ain Doua prehistoric rock painting sites in the western Jebel Uweinat mountain.

In 1992, the novel won the Canadian Governor General's Award and in 1993, the Booker Prize for fiction. It has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Film
In 1996, Ondaatje's novel was made into a film by Anthony Minghella. Ondaatje worked closely with the filmmakers and has stated that he is happy with the film as an adaptation.

In the film, the character of Count de Almásy, played by Ralph Fiennes, is heavily fictionalised. A good factual overview is provided in the 2002 Saul Kelly book, The Hunt for Zerzura: The Lost Oases and the Desert War.

In his book, The Conversations : Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film, Ondaatje describes how the different layers of the filmmaking process come together. A special focus is placed on the work of the editor of the film, Walter Murch. With over a 40 time transitions, the movie was a puzzle that was put together again and again over the course of one year. Walter Murch won an Academy award for his editing and another one for his contribution to the film's sound.

The motion picture also received much critical acclaim and was a major award winner as well as a box office success. It won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award and the BAFTA Award for best picture.

Critics of the film accuse it of professing narcissism hidden behind a non-linear, melodramatic plot.

Production:
 * Director: Anthony Minghella
 * Producer: Saul Zaentz
 * Original story: Michael Ondaatje from his novel
 * Screenplay adaption: Anthony Minghella
 * Cinematography: John Seale
 * Music: Gabriel Yared, Johann Sebastian Bach, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers

Primary cast

 * Ralph Fiennes - Count Laszlo de Almásy
 * Kristin Scott Thomas - Katharine Clifton
 * Juliette Binoche - Hana
 * Willem Dafoe - David Caravaggio
 * Naveen Andrews - Lt. Kip Singh
 * Colin Firth - Geoffrey Clifton
 * Kevin Whately - Sgt. Hardy

Won

 * Academy Award for Best Picture
 * Academy Award for Directing - Anthony Minghella
 * Academy Award for Sound - Walter Murch, Mark Berger, David Parker, Chris Newman
 * Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress - Juliette Binoche
 * Academy Award for Film Editing - Walter Murch
 * Academy Award for Original Music Score - Gabriel Yared
 * Academy Award for Costume Design - Ann Roth
 * Academy Award for Best Cinematography - John Seale
 * Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
 * BAFTA Award for Best Picture
 * BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress - Juliette Binoche
 * Berlin Film Festival: Silver Bear for Best Actress - Juliette Binoche
 * Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
 * Golden Globe Award for Best Score - Gabriel Yared

Nominations

 * Academy Award for Best Actor - Ralph Fiennes
 * Academy Award for Best Actress - Kristin Scott Thomas
 * Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay - Anthony Minghella
 * César Award for Best Foreign Film
 * Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Juliette Binoche