'English Patient' Director Dead

Oscar winning director and writer Anthony Minghella has died aged 54.

The British director, whose film credits include ‘Cold Mountain’ and ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’, was chairman of the British Film Institute.

He won an Oscar in 1997 for directing World War II drama ‘The English Patient’ which scooped nine Oscars in total and was also Oscar-nominated for writing the screenplay for 1999’s ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’.

Lord Puttam, a friend of Minghella, said that the industry would be “very shocked” to lose their colleague and that it was a “shattering blow.”

“He started as a writer, he was not a stylist as a director. He saw himself as a storyteller and his films were very well told, beautifully made and beautifully acted,” he said.

Minghella embarked on his career as a writer and made his directorial debut in 'Truly, Madly, Deeply', in 1991.

He was appointed chairman of the British Film Institute in 2003, and said of the British film industry on his appointment: “We’re not getting enough movies made here, our studios aren’t busy enough, we don’t have enough studios.

“We’re not good at 'lassoing the talent' we have here and containing it within the British Isles, and we should all be working to address that.”

Minghella grew up on the Isle of Wight where his family run a chain of ice cream shops. He went to school in Portsmouth and was a graduate of Hull University.

(DS)