25 of the most swoon-worthy romance movies of all time
By Amy Kaplan
The English Patient
Why does it seem like WWII is always the setting for some of the most epic love stories of our time? Perhaps it’s just our way of coping with the tragedies of that war — and The English Patient is no different.
The movie tells the story of Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), who is badly burned and tended to by Hana (Juliette Binoche), a nurse in an Italian monastery near the end of World War II. His past is revealed through flashbacks involving a married Englishwoman (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his job of mapping the African landscape (mostly the Sahara desert). Like any true love story, there is a tragedy, heartbreak and of course — healing. I’m starting to think I really like movies where someone dies tragically (that’s not morbid right?).
The connection between Fiennes and Scott Thomas is apparent and the desperation you feel when they are trying to get to each other is gut-wrenching. It’s impossible to watch this movie and not walk away changed.
Fun Fact: The movie is based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje and took four years to make. Fiennes insisted that he be made into full burn make-up even on days where they were only filming his face, a process that took four hours each day.
Release date: November 15, 1996