We’ve learned to live with the fact that Netflix and all of the major streamers lose a great deal of their movies on a month-to-month basis.
But when one of those movies is an Oscar winner for Best Picture, then it’s time to take notice.
This month’s underrated movie on Netflix that you have to watch before it leaves in November is The English Patient, an adaptation of Michael Ondaatje‘s novel by screenwriter and director Anthony Minghella.
Three decades ago, this film was a cultural phenomenon. Now, Watch With Us is sharing three reasons to watch it on Netflix.
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Ralph Fiennes Gives the Performance of a Lifetime
In retrospect, you’d never guess that Ralph Fiennes would be playing Lord Voldemort under heavy makeup in the Harry Potter films 11 years after The English Patient. Fiennes also wears extensive makeup and prosthetics in this film, but he’s clearly the romantic lead of the story, even when he was grievously injured.
Because of the way the story is structured between the present of World War II and the flashbacks to the past, Fiennes is essentially playing a dual role. In his present state, he portrays a severely burned man who can’t remember his own name. But in the past, it’s revealed that the so-called English patient is László Almásy, a cartographer who had a torrid affair with a married woman, Katharine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas). The film asks a lot of questions about the real nature of Fiennes’ character, and he portrays all aspects of László in a compelling way. This was a star-making performance, and Fiennes deserves every accolade for it.
Juliette Binoche Is the Heart and Soul of the Movie
Fiennes was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, but he didn’t win. However, Juliette Binoche did win Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Hana, the nurse who cares for László. Truthfully, Binoche should have gotten the Best Actress award because this is her movie as well. She’s the beating heart of the story, and the audience sees László’s current self through her eyes.
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Hana isn’t limited to emotional scenes with Fiennes — her character also has a bittersweet love affair of her own. Lost’s Naveen Andrews plays Kip, Hana’s lover and a Sikh soldier in the British Indian Army during a time when inter-racial romances were considered scandalous. That connection gave Hana personal stakes in the story beyond just caring for her patient.
It Rivals Past Epic Hollywood Romance Films
Epic films of this scale are rarely made anymore because of the expense. But for this movie, Minghella reportedly kept the budget under $43 million and still managed to faithfully recreate two time periods: A pre-World War 2 era and an in-war landscape. It looks like the budget was much higher, and Minghella did a beautiful job of shooting this film. The footage is gorgeous to watch, and the film has a great story that was told well from start to finish.
But it takes more than just pretty pictures to make an epic. Willem Dafoe has a costarring role as Caravaggio, and he’s not exactly a villain. But he is the greatest threat to László’s safety, because he believes that Almásy was the one who betrayed him to the Germans. The build-up of that conflict features some of the best tension in the movie. Human moments of drama like that made this film’s ambitions climb even higher.
The English Patient is streaming on Netflix through October 31.
