“The English Patient” was adapted from the novel written by Michael Ondaatje and published in 1992. The movie came out in 1996 by Anthony Minghella. It starred Kristen Scott Thomas, Ralph Fiennes, William Dafoe, Juliette Binoche, Colen Firth and Naveen Andrews.
The story is set in both North Africa and Italy during World War ll. A Canadian Nurse for the Army named Hana is residing in a vacant villa located in San Girolamo, Italy. Inside of the villa, bombs were hidden all over. Hana has no clue that the bombs are there.
Hana takes care of a man, who was the victim of a plane crash. He is referred to as “The English Patient” because he claims not to recall his name. He was taken to the hospital by a Bedouin Tribe member. Burned beyond recognition, the only possession found that was not destroyed by the fire was a copy of Herodotus histories. He remembers his desert explorations in a detailed manner but cannot tell anyone his name. His true name is Laszlo de Almasay and he was working with a group of British cartographers. He was a desert explorer from Hungary.
A friend of Hana’s deceased father, Caravaggio came to visit her in the villa. He had been captured and tortured by the Germans. He was addicted to morphine and had overheard that Hana was caring for a burn victim at the villa.
Two British soldiers came to the villa one day while Hana was playing the piano. The one soldier named Kip informed her that the German’s often planted bombs inside of musical instruments. He said that he would stay there to make sure that they were safe. Kip and “The English Patient” became fast friends.
“The English Patient” decided to come clean and explain what happened during his trip. He was on the plane of Geoffrey and Katherine Clinton. They were on the expedition together. Laszlo and Katherine had a romantic affair after he fell in love with her while she read Herodotus’ histories aloud one night. Katherine ended the affair because she worried that Geoffrey would go crazy if he found out about the relationship.
The three packed up their camp and left the area once World War II started. Geoffrey crashed the plane as he was aware of the affair. Geoffrey died on impact and both Katherine and Laszlo survived. Laszlo covered Katherine to keep her warm so he could go find help. He was captured and because of his foreign name was arrested as a spy.
Laszlo escaped and realized that it would be too late to save her. He allowed himself to be again captured but this time by the Germans. He helped the German spy across the desert and into Cairo. Laszlo went back by plane to retrieve Katherine’s body but the plane burst into flames. He used the parachute to get out of the plane but the chute was engulfed in flames. He was severely burned when found by the Bedouins.
Caravaggio continues the story as he never thought Laszlo was really English. It turns out that Geoffrey was an English spy. He found out that Laszlo was not only having an affair with his wife but had also been working with the Germans.
Laszlo explains all about his past. In the interim, Kip and Hana become closer. He comes out of his shell a bit and it becomes known that Kip’s brother did not trust the West. Disregarding his brother’s feelings, Kip joined the British Army. He trained with Lord Suffolk and became quite adept at his job. When the Lord and his team were killed, Kip basically removed himself from society. He then left England and started dismantling bombs in Italy.
Hana and Kip become emotionally and romantically involved. When Kip hears that the United States bombed Japan, he feels betrayed by the country he was fighting with and becomes withdrawn. Kip leaves Hana and everything else behind.
