Monday
Oct242016
Thoughts I Had Looking at Binoche, Fiennes and Scott Thomas
Monday, October 24, 2016 at 5:31PM This weekend the Rome Film Festival celebrated the 20th Anniversary of The English Patient with a special screening, attended by its three stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes.
- The English Patient was 20 years ago????
- Juliette laughing and KST mistily looking away is reminiscent of their characters, warm melancholy Hannah and icy melancholy Katharine.
- I miss KST’s icy grandeur… now that she is a Dame will she get a new wind to her career?
- Am I K in your book?
- I still lived in Sudan in 1997 where cinemas were scarce. I remember wanting to see the movie for months and finally managed to see it on a trip to London a month after it won 9 Oscars. I went straight from the airport, dropped my bags and rushed to an afternoon screening in Leicester Square. That’s how bad I wanted to see it, I couldn’t wait another minute.
What are your memories of the first time you saw The English Patient?
Reader Comments (26)
I love Julia Louis Dreyfus, but if The English Patient is not seen as a classic today it's because of her. I actually know a lot of people who haven't seen it because Elaine despised it.
lol these are more memories than thoughts.
The 3 of them look fantastic and I can almost hear Juliette's laugh!
Now the memory: this was the first Binoche movie I've seen she's been the best actress of the world to me ever since. I was entranced by her and by the way she entranced me by saying nothing, by putting the most expressive face ever without moving a single muscle.
I remember that I found her enigmatic in a way I could stare at her for years looking for meanings and emotions. She has the whole universe in her face.
This is still one of her best performances, maybe the fourth best, after 1) Camille Claudel 1915 2) Blue 3) Copie Conforme???
I could go on: 4) The English Patient 5) The Lovers on the Bridge 6) The Flight of the Red Balloon 7) Sils Maria 8) Mauvais Sang 9) The Unbearable Lightness of Being 10) Damage.
OMG I love this woman
I know in certain quarters this film gets a bad rap for beating Fargo to Best Film but when I saw it I felt it was the most beautiful film I had ever seen and the performances sublime,where are Fiennes and Scott Thomas's 2nd nominations,He should have won Best Actor 2 years ago..
Murtada, that's an adorable story re. rushing Leicester Sq
and Cal: preach!
I saw it on TV a year later and thought "Fargo is still the better film". Fargo is still the better choice but the best film of 1996 in my opinion is Breaking the Waves.
Binoche and KST still look fuckin' good and when is Ralph Fiennes ever going to get that Oscar. I really thought he had a shot with The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Back in 2004 KST announced that she was either retiring altogether from films or substantially cutting down on the number of projects she undertook.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/31/kristin-scott-thomas-interview
This is my all time favorite movie. I have seen it at least fifty times-I used to watch it after breakup. Every time I can't tell whether it's Binoche or KST or Fiennes giving the better performance. Love them all.
I saw it with my mom in a packed cinema. Packed. I almost melted with the first musical notes. Like I did watching Out of Africa. I love that feeling. The certainty that you will be swept away.
John T -- this sounds like you've had 50 breakups! You're a busy man!
Some of them were just viewing for pleasure, but you know, I had an active twenties. Lol :)
Didn't understand most of what was being said the first time I saw it so didn't make much of it then. Watching it with subtitles a few years later made all the difference and I was floored. I do feel like this and Out of Africa are two of the best epics of the latter half of the 20th century and I can certainly agree to being swept away by both of them. I'd highly recommend reading the source novel The English Patient was based on. It was the first time I was struck by how beautiful English language can be.
@cal roth - thanks for reminding me of a great Seinfeld episode:
Those sex scenes! I mean, please! Gimme something I can use!
And my personal favourite:
(To the screen) Quit telling your stupid story, about the stupid desert, and just die already!
Perhaps the perfect film.
"That is what I have wanted. To walk in such a place with you."
Yes...watchin it now, the three o them are still so enigmatic & mesmerizing after all these years...but lets not forget the sublime Score (& Cheek to Cheek!!) & gorgeous set & Cinematography!
I so wanted Bacall to win the Oscar, but Binoche really deserves her win. One of the best win ever..
I was alws puzzled how Binoche is considered Supp & KST as Lead, when they shared almost equal screen time?? In fact, both o them jointly won best supp actress from a few critic groups
Scott Thomas gave the BSA performance of 2013 in Only God Forgives.
Fiennes has the misfortune of being good in a Wes Anderson movie. Actors are resistant to acknowledge real work can happen there.
Never saw The English Patient.
I remember watching it for Juliette Binoche and immediately re-watching it for Kristin Scott Thomas and then watching it again and again over the years for all of it.
The first time I saw The English Patient, I loved it. The music was sublime. The acting marvelous. But, what I remember most are the references to Canadian places... Picton, Ontario where my ancestors settled 200+ years prior to the movie's release. It deserved all its Oscars and perhaps one or two others..
I have to agree with some of the comments above, The English Patient will forever be linked with that Seinfeld episode, no matter how good a film it is.
My English Patient memory was literally jumping off the couch and screaming when Binoche upset and won the Oscar. It was my fave that year. Also studied the book in university and heard Michael Ondaatje speak about it.
My memory of seeing the movie for the first time, which was just a few months ago, can be summed up as "Wow, this movie is really beautiful, these people are really beautiful, oh, here comes the sex scene, whoa, slow down there Ralph - OH MY GOD HE'S TRYING TO EAT HER FACE OFF! HE'S TRYING TO DEVOUR HER! DEAR GOD SOMEONE HELP THAT POOR WOMAN!"
I mean, I know it was supposed to be all this pent-up lust finally unleashed but good lord was it uncomfortable to watch. Just not sexy at all.
Sacrilege I know, but my memory of my first viewing of The English Patient is boredom. It grew on me on subsequent viewings.
DJDeeJay- laughed so hard reading your comment.
I saw a play starring Scott Thomas and Rufus Sewell in London a few years ago. She was fantastic and she looked exactly like she did in The English Patient. Kristin Scott Timeless.
Seinfeld is not so popular overseas.
I regret that I didnt get to see this marvel of a movie on the big screen. There are so many great scenes here. One of them is this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK49SBXBK_U