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| Anthony Minghella |
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| Born: 1954 |
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 Read the short profile |
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The feted British director of literate character studies, on an
increasingly broad cinematic canvas and with unusual narratives,
Minghella started off on English TV, adapting and directing for series
like Inspector Morse. He achieved strong acclaim at home and fair
export value with his film debut Truly Madly Deeply (1990), a tragic
love story involving a bereaved woman and the ghost of her lover, which
established his credentials as an actors' director and one unafraid of
emotion. Moving to Hollywood for Mr Wonderful (1992), he attempted
with mixed success in that case to update the romantic comedy genre for a
discerning audience. Several years passed before his long-cherished
project finally made it to the screen, a highly ambitious adaptation of
Michael Ondaatje's Booker-winning novel The English Patient (1996).
It drew comparisons with the films of David Lean in its use of landscape
and music to sweeping epic effect, and its complex interweaving of
timeframes was very skillfully managed. The winner of nine Oscars
including Best Picture and Director, it ironically lost for Adapted
Screenplay, which was generally considered the film's greatest
strength, Minghella being by his own assessment a writer first and
director second. He went on to adapt Patricia Highsmith's morally
troubling thriller The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), which received
considerable credit for its thematic daring while disappointing in
terms of suspense. Like The English Patient, it boasted four
outstanding leads and a top notch supporting cast, filling out
characterisations with remarkable depth and subtlety.
Tim Robey
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