Well it's a sad day as one of my favorite filmmakers dies at the age of 54 after apparently suffering from a brain hemorrhage during a routine check up on his neck. Minghella is the director of two of my favorite movies: The Talented Mr. Ripley and The English Patient. I know that the latter film is not universally loved, but it did a great job of adapting the difficult novel into a something that was entertaining and would be the visual blueprint for Joe Wright as he made Atonement (that's my analysis, I don't know if that's true or not). I have seen it at least five times and have grown to love it more each time. It's a film that never feels as long as others have made out to be. Although the joke about the film on "Seinfeld" was great and much deserved for all of the (over)hype the film was getting at the time. But it has aged well.
I will throw a review up here of The Talented Mr. Ripley soon as I have been meaning to re-watch it, and now I have even more of an excuse to. Although under less pleasant circumstances. The film is the best Hitchcock homage ever made and has a truly creepy performance by Matt Damon. Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't suck for once in her life and this is the film where Jude Law kind of broke through and made a claim for himself as a bankable actor who would go on to star in two of Minghella's later film Cold Mountain and Breaking and Entering. The scene with Law and Damon in the row boat is one of the most chilling things I have ever seen in a movie. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. I love this movie and it still holds up and has always been one of my favorite films of all time. I still prefer it to Ripley's Game which has a great performance by Malkovich, but Minghella hit a home run with this film; unfortunately a film so good that he would have trouble matching its awesomeness. It was probably the second or third best film of 1999 behind Magnolia and Being John Malkovich, which is great company to be in. I didn't really much care for Cold Mountain or Breaking and Entering but they were better than your average film that was released.
Here is a list of his films courtesy of imdb.
Well...I will try and get a review up a soon as I can.
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