In memory, love lives forever.

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott Thomas, Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, Colin Firth, Julian Wadham, Jürgen Prochnow, Kevin Whately, Nino Castelnuovo

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I'm not in love with him. I'm in love with ghosts. So is he, he's in love with ghosts." - Hana

Why watch this? Love and heartbreak are heads on the same coin in this epic romance.

Plot Summary: At the close of World War II, a severely burned man, called the English patient, is cared for by a young nurse in a secluded Italian villa. His fragmented memories, gradually revealed through morphine-induced flashbacks, unveil his past as a Hungarian count mapping the Sahara Desert and a tragic affair with a married woman. As his story unfolds, intertwined with the lives of the nurse and other companions, the film explores themes of love, betrayal, and the lingering scars of war.

Dad's Preview: This film abounds in richness. It has sweeping desert vistas, a story within a story, a forbidden love affair, all set in the background of war. There are also the superb performances. Binoche is an Army nurse convinced she's cursed. Scott Thomas is a married woman who desires the brooding, intense Ralph Fiennes. This masterpiece spans the deserts of North Africa and a deserted convent in Italy, yet, more intimately, each character is fully explored and realized. There is pain here to behold, but the whole thing is so expertly constructed that you cannot turn away until the end credits. It's that good. It was nominated for 12 Oscars, and won nine, including Best Picture, Director and Supporting Actress (Binoche). 

Tiger Moth Productions; Miramax Films