Born: 6 January, 1954, on Isle of Wight. Died: 18 March, 2008, in London, aged 54.
ANTHONY Minghella, CBE, had a truly brilliant career. After success with The English Patient in 1997, he specialised in making films that appeared to be non-main
stream but were nonetheless hugely successful at the box office. That was partly thanks to the stars who wanted to work with Minghella. The English Patient catapulted him into the front rank of global film-making. Its follow-up, The Talented Mr Ripley, showed his ability to manipulate cinematic style as well as to bring out the best in A-list acting talent. Cold Mountain was filmed on an epic scale – its cost, at £48 million, was double the investment of his previous film.
Minghella brought to all these projects an honesty and keen sense of style. His directing talent was bolstered by his knack of creating a relaxed and genial atmosphere. People who worked with him talk of his generosity, courtesy and agile sense of fun.
Anthony Minghella was the son of an ice cream manufacturer based on the Isle of Wight. His father was of Italian-Scottish descent and after Sandown Grammar School he studied English at Hull University. Minghella decided he did not want to follow his father into the family business and instead took his degree at Hull, where he wrote plays for student productions.
He also showed a keen interest in folk music, playing keyboard and writing songs for a band on the Isle of Wight. "That was an important part of my life," Minghella once said. "For me, writing songs developed into writing plays."
After university he worked on various television programmes (notably Grange Hill) and was an editor and writer for series such as EastEnders and Boon. He rose to prominence after winning the 1986 London Theatre Critics' Award for his play Made in Bangkok and went on to write three episodes of Inspector Morse.
His first film of note was in fact a commission by BBC TV. A late change of plans turned Truly, Madly, Deeply into a feature film and when it came out in 1990 (with a cast led by Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman and Bill Paterson) Minghella was acclaimed for allowing the subject matter (grief after a death) not to become mawkish or self-indulgent, and for drawing from the cast performances of "real warmth and tenderness".
As a result of this success Minghella was asked to direct Mr Wonderful in Hollywood. It was not viewed with particular favour but in 1995 he was approached to direct and write the script for The English Patient. Based on Michael Ondaatje's acclaimed novel, the film won nine Oscars, including best director. Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche and Kristin Scott-Thomas gave the film an authority and a beguiling charm.
His 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley was a genuine tour de force. The film weaves a pattern of deceit and intrigue which draws the audience in as inside observers. Performances from Matt Damon, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow contribute to the excellence of the film but it is Minghella's ruthless telling of a gripping tale that lingers in the memory. It brought Minghella his second Oscar nomination, for best screen adaptation.
In 2003, Minghella directed and wrote Cold Mountain with Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger. Set in the American Civil War, it includes an epic battle sequence which Minghella gave a vivid reality without resorting to overt violence.
In 2005 Minghella made his debut as an opera director in a powerful production of Puccini's Madam Butterfly at the English National Opera. Some critics carped at the reliance on stagecraft and over-grand lighting, but audiences loved it and it was booked to open the present season at the Metropolitan, New York.
It is thought Minghella was due to return to the ENO to direct a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin next season and he had been booked to direct and write the libretto for a new work at the Metropolitan in 2011.
In 2006 Minghella returned to the movies and directed Breaking and Entering, a romantic drama with many of his favourite actors (including Law and Binoche). Set in the gloomy backstreets of London's King's Cross, it tells of an on-going conflict between lovers that Minghella captures with sympathy and understanding.
After rehearsals in Botswana, Minghella recently completed work on a comedy, The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which tells of a big-hearted female Botswanan private investigator. Minghella directed the series for television after he had adapted the novel by Alexander McCall Smith with Four Weddings and a Funeral writer Richard Curtis. In an extensive interview in last weekend's Scotsman Magazine, McCall Smith talked of "the colourful journey from page to screen" of his novel. He spoke warmly of Minghella, saying: "I liked Anthony Minghella. I had met him before in London, at a dinner at the producer Amy Moore's house, and I found him agreeable and interesting company. One imagines that famous film directors will be flashy – which Minghella most certainly is not."
Just before McCall Smith left the set in Botswana, Minghella took him to one side and showed him a poignant scene reuniting two of the characters. "I could not stop myself – the tears flowed freely. I suppose that all the emotion I had felt over the whole project came to a head now that I saw the little miracle he was performing. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Don't worry – that's exactly what it did to me.'"
Minghella's reputation as a film maker was assured and he was lined up for various prestigious projects. Typically, for one night of ENO's Madam Butterfly Minghella booked the stalls at the Coliseum and what seemed like the entire population of the Isle of Wight attended a performance. The production and the director were rightly cheered to the rafters.
Minghella is survived by his wife, the choreographer Carolyn Choa, a son and daughter.
The full article contains 1016 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
