Frankly, I’m stunned beyond words. I can’t believe that we’ve lost yet another of our directors. After the losses of Robert Altman in 2006, as well as Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni (both in 2007), it’s a bit of a shock to lose yet another prominent director so soon. While Anthony Minghella probably wasn’t a household name to much of the movie-going public, he was certainly a significant figure in cinema.
Known to many for his Academy Award winning film The English Patient, Minghella was a visionary director who touched the minds and hearts of millions as his films flashed upon screens around the world. Judging from the responses of many in the filmmaking world following his death, Minghella also undoubtedly touched the lives of many in front of and behind the camera. It’s important to note that Minghella was a screenwriter as well as a director, having penned many of the films he directed, including 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. Minghella made his filmmaking debut with 1991’s Truly, Madly, Deeply, starring Alan Rickman.
While I was not familiar with all of Minghella’s work, I do have one very special memory about one of his films, 2003’s Cold Mountain.
It was just after the New Year in 2004, and I had just helped my sister move from Atlanta to LA. We caught up with a film school buddy of mine, who was able to get the three of us into a special screening of Cold Mountain at the Director’s Guild of America. This was a special treat for us, and my first time at the DGA. Unfortunately, Minghella himself wasn’t in attendance, but that didn’t lessen my excitement one tiny bit. It was just cool to see Minghella’s new film. I remember very clearly being drawn into this period drama set at the end of the Civil War. I was impressed by the intelligence and sensitivity of Minghella’s screenplay as well as his direction.
While I have no idea what mid-nineteenth century American life was like, the look and feel of the film made a believer out of me. And something in particular that stood out for me: I was touched by the depth of the performances that Minghella drew out of the diverse group of actors he’d assembled: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger (who would win a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her performance in this film), Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Giovanni Ribisi, Natalie Portman, among many others.
Seeing this film made me realize that Minghella was the type of director that I aspire to be – a storyteller first of all, who knows how to craft a story for the big screen through a well-put together screenplay and a carefully guided ensemble of talented actors. Seeing Cold Mountain made me better appreciate the work Minghella brought as a filmmaking hyphenate (writer-director) to both The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley. His work helped me realize what a filmmaker can bring to a movie as a writer, as well as a director, proving that what’s on the page and on the stage are both extremely important and have to be carefully handled by the director.
That being said, it makes me very sad to acknowledge the fact that there will be no more Anthony Minghella films for the world to enjoy (after, of course, the TV adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith’s best-seller The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, starring Anika Noni Rose and Jill Scott - due to air on HBO in 2009). That’s certainly something to look forward to, but without a doubt it is a great tragedy to have to mourn the loss of yet another filmmaker. While his work will live on, the man himself (and any future endeavors he might have brought us) will certainly be missed.
Let’s just hope we don’t lose any more of our great directors any time soon.
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