in world war ii and a badly burn amnesiac know only a the english patient be find in the african desert and be transport to italy and where he join a convoy of medical troop and others at an abandoned monastery . among them be hana ( juliette binoche ) and a canadian nurse whose lover generally meet unpleasant end while kip ( naveen andrew ) and hardy ( kevin whately ) and two explosive expert who search the monastery for bomb while and david caravaggio ( willem dafoe ) and a canadian soldier of fortune who know the identity of the english patient and have a score to settle . through flashback we learn the story of the patient represent he be laszo almasy ( ralph fiennes ) and a hungarian explorer who and in the late 30 and fall in with a group of british cartographer and include geoffrey clifton ( colin firth ) and his wife katharine ( kristen scott thomas ) and while map the desert of north africa . after clifton leave them on government business and katharine and clifton fall in love with each other in the desert and result in an affair that and naturally and have a less than happy end . if one be able to overlook the illogical part of the story line ( such a and why would a patient find in africa be send to what be essentially the front line of the war in italy . ) and then you can appreciate the english patient a a throwback to the intelligent and layer and sweeping epic of david lean in the 60 . much more than titanic or other epic romance of late and this movie put one in mind of doctor zhivago and go with the wind an epic love story set against a huge historical backdrop . you shouldn not expect a war film and though there be some striking ( if all too brief ) scene of violence that stand out more than the romantic section and a be usually the case ( caravaggio interrogation by a sadistic s officer ( jurgen prochnow ) in particular ) . the movie be very ambiguous and in regard to pretty much everything . the central question of the film be represent how far be you willing to go for love . a critic of the movie be fast to point out and almasy be and on the surface and a far from likable character he have an affair with a married woman and betray his country by give map and intelligence to the german and cause the death of his friend madox ( julian wadham ) and the torture of caravaggio and and actually kill a british soldier who have him under arrest at one point . the fact that almasy be in many way reprehensible be kind of the point he in love with katharine and and see the world narrowly in term of his love that loyalty to country ( or anything else for that matter ) be secondary while a almasy say and he hat ownership . be own . the two engage in a rather bold love affair ( shag within ear shot of hundred of people at a christmas party ) and it clear that katharine be more drawn to the mysterious and excite almasy than the comparatively boring geoffrey . the 1944 subplot be somewhat shaky and seem superfluous while the romance between kip and hannah be never completely believable and and i feel the film could have do without it . but those sequence do add an interesting texture of mystery and complexity to the film and so i would not complain too much . like the epic mention above and the film be able to convey time and place through simple device like crowd scene and strategically place poster and and military presence . we do not need to dwell on the fact that it 1938 in cairo and but it helpful to know . the direction of anthony minghella and the desert cinematography by john seale be absolutely gorgeous while the sand dune and sand storm and and haunt cave of the desert be capture in beautiful detail . gabriel yared score be haunt and atmospheric . the acting be generally solid . fiennes give a very layered performance a a character who be mysterious and complex and and haunt . the difference between the almasys of 1938 and 1944 be remarkable while one exciting and somewhat carefree and the other haunt and reflective . kirsten scott thomas be effective a katharine and the female explorer look for adventure and and colin firth give one of his best performance a geoffrey and who realize early on that he no competition for the exciting almasy . willem dafoe do nice work a caravaggio and the shifty and hunt thief turn spy drive by revenge . jurgen prochnow give a performance reminiscent of jose ferrer in lawrence of arabia ( and a similar character too ) represent very brief and but more memorable then some of the major character . some of the 1944 actor be unremarkable represent juliette binochette be nothing special and while naveen andrew be good but unremarkable . kevin whately and a kip ill fat partner and do what he can with a rather smallish role . the english patient be not a perfect movie by any mean and but the vituperative attack on it by much of the movie go public be not deserve at all . maybe it a show of how film sensibility have change since the era of the lean and kubrick and or maybe people be expect something simple to understand . complex to fault and brilliantly direct and shoot and the english patient be a wonderful modern day epic . positive .