Two 90’s Best Pictures, But Only One Deserving of the Title

Through some fortuitous luck I recently stumbled across some well named movies for a very inexpensive price.  Among these new additions to my personal collection were two Best Picture winners from the 1990s that I had surprisingly yet to view; the 1996 winner The English Patient and the 1998 winner Shakespeare in Love.  After watching them both over the last day and a half I can now say without a doubt that one definitely deserved its Oscar while the other did not.

The English Patient (1996): is set in the Sahara desert during the beginning of WWII and stars Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe and Kristin Scott Thomas.  At the beginning of the film, we find Count Laszlo Almasy (Fiennes) badly burned from a plane crash.  With not long to live, a Canadian nurse named Hana (Binoche) makes the decision to take Laszlo and look after him in an abandoned church.  Much of Almasy’s memories had been forgotten because of the accident, but through the use of flashbacks, we begin to see what has come to pass to cause Laszlo to be in his current state. 

Grand and ambitious, The English Patient is a film about love, longing, regret, and unforeseen consequences that come with decisions that are made from the heart.  The two hour and 40 minute viewing time could be difficult for some viewers.  But if you haven’t seen The English Patient, I hope it doesn’t scare you away.  Looking back at the films from 1996, the only one that could have given The English Patient a run for its money in regards to the Best Picture is the Coen Brothers critically acclaimed darling Fargo.  However, when you compare the two films, The English Patient was and is still deserving of the honor that was bestowed upon it by the Academy (although I have to admit my personal favorite for 1996 is still Jerry Maguire).  (*** ½ Stars)

Shakespeare in Love (1998): is a fictional comedy about a forbidden love affair between William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) during the time when Shakespeare was writing Romeo & Juliet.  Shakespeare, suffering from a bad case of writers block, was struggling to complete the comedy play he’d been paid to write, Romeo and Ethel, The Pirate’s Daughter.  During an audition for the play, an unknown actor by the name of Thomas Kent is cast as the lead role of Romeo.  Thomas Kent is actually Viola de Lesseps, who has to disguise her identity because women aren’t allowed to be on stage by law.  After Shakespeare discovers Thomas Kent’s real identity, he and Viola begin a secret love affair, despite the fact that Viola’s parents have agreed to an arranged marriage with another man.  Viola becomes Shakespeare’s muse and inspiration for the writing of the legendary play Romeo & Juliet. 

In 1998 the film that was as highly regarded as Shakespeare in Love was Steven Spielberg’s WWII opus Saving Private Ryan.  My hope before watching Shakespeare in Love was that I’d see some explanation as to why the Academy decided to pass over Private Ryan for Best Picture.  After finally seeing it however, I am unfortunately still left scratching my head.  While Shakespeare in Love is at times a whimsically entertaining film, I can’t in good faith put it ahead of Saving Private Ryan, or other great 1998 films such Rushmore, Life is Beautiful, American History X, Rounders or The Truman Show. Overall, Shakespeare in Love is a solid effort, but clearly not worthy of its Best Picture distinction (*** Stars)