Rating:  Summary: The best adaptation is not always the most faithful. Review: Adapting novels to screenplays is fraught with perils - the expectations of readers who want to see the movie as they imagined
the story when reading the book; trying to condense hundreds of pages of prose to 120 pages of sparsely written screen directions
and (one hopes) pithy, memorable dialogue; and not least, dealing with an author resentful of the screenwriter's "messing around"
with his or her work. But in "The English Patient", a screenplay by Anthony Minghella, who also directed the film, we have an adaptation brilliant in its execution, one which the author actually praises in a prologue to the published script (Miramax Books). The script is based
on Canadian author Michael Onjaatje's novel of the same name. The novel is quite different, an amazing, drug-hazed trip in its own right. When Minghella decided to do the film version, he read the book once, then put it away and began afresh. He's taken the sense of the book, the emotional core of it, and brought that forward, using elements from the novel and inventing a few of his own. Both men have nothing but admiration for each other, and Ondaatje was on the set of "The English Patient" much of the time. For anyone interested in filmmaking, scriptwriting, adaptations, or just a good read, both the novel and the screenplay will not disappoint.
-michael cox.
Rating:  Summary: In the words of Almasy: "A Good Read." Review: Although it is different from the original novel, this screenplay does round out the film quite well. The intense feelings of the characters are conveyed very well through the script. However, I have a feeling that this book only appeared as a result of the massive publicity given the movie. I recommend watching the film prior to reading this, or perhaps reading it while watching the film. Whatever you do, enjoy it!
Rating:  Summary: Captures the power and poetry of the spellbinding novel. Review: Anthony Minghella has created a superbly intelligent script based on a beautiful but lyrically difficult book. The script, in effect, excerpts the obsessive love affair buried among the many layers of the novel and makes it central to the movie without losing the poetical force of Ondaatje's language or the appeal of the well delineated characters. A more concise, yet equally powerful story retains the magical imagery, the sense of compassion, memory and loss that haunts its distant world and weaves its spell on the reader.
Rating:  Summary: carefully crafted masterpiece Review: Anthony Minghella has re-created one of the most remarkable screenplays of our time by giving a new dimension to the original work. It is more concise, but has kept the essence of the novel. It portrays a journey of several people; Hana, Kip, Caravaggio and Almasy who met each other perhaps by chance. But Minghella's work is not an outcome of a mere chance, but a carefully crafted masterpiece like the novel it is based on.If you have enjoyed the book and the film, then you must somehow other read the screenplay to better understand and appreciate both the book and the film. I have read it over five times and will read it again and perhaps again!
Rating:  Summary: carefully crafted masterpiece Review: Anthony Minghella has re-created one of the most remarkable screenplays of our time by giving a new dimension to the original work. It is more concise, but has kept the essence of the novel. It portrays a journey of several people; Hana, Kip, Caravaggio and Almasy who met each other perhaps by chance. But Minghella's work is not an outcome of a mere chance, but a carefully crafted masterpiece like the novel it is based on. If you have enjoyed the book and the film, then you must somehow other read the screenplay to better understand and appreciate both the book and the film. I have read it over five times and will read it again and perhaps again!
Rating:  Summary: the screenplay Review: If you love movies and writing than the screenplay is an interesting companion to the movie and book. Read along to the movie or figure out what a character really said, you can take this along with you anytime and enjoy the movie all over again. Filled with photos from the film and comments by Minghella, Zaentz, and Ondaatje, this is an excellent addition to your English Patient collection.
Rating:  Summary: the screenplay Review: If you love movies and writing than the screenplay is an interesting companion to the movie and book. Read along to the movie or figure out what a character really said, you can take this along with you anytime and enjoy the movie all over again. Filled with photos from the film and comments by Minghella, Zaentz, and Ondaatje, this is an excellent addition to your English Patient collection.
Rating:  Summary: The English Patient spins a web of intricate character. Review: In The English Patient, we have a story that is able to rend the heart and soothe the soul within a single passage. The book spins an intricate web both with its storyline and with the way we piece the characters together; each fragment fitting into its own place until we finally form a complete picture which brings new light to every element we have discovered before. It is that web which captivates the reader, forcing us to complete the whole picture before we are able to put the book down
Rating:  Summary: CUT IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT Review: The long overfussed boring movie is about a patient to a man scarred and hurt by war (world war 2) tells the story of his life to his nurse. Way too long and boring. It is way to overfussed about. Not that good. Rated R: for graphic violence and sexuality
Rating:  Summary: Kip vs. The "A" Bomb Review: This dark tale delivers the strongest argument against "one person can make a difference"conceivable.It's overall theme of being pathetic describes the book's author's ability to enlighten.The Booker Prize appears to be a booby one
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