The English Patient (1996, Miramax, dir. Anthony Minghella, based on novel by Michael Ondaatje, 160 min, R), an Academy-award winning WWII drama, was a major film to present the technique of layered narrative and scriptwriting. Seeing handsome Ralph Fiennes play Laszlo Almasy (an actual person, somewhat fictionalized) as a badly burned former map-maker, explorer, aviator and plane-crash victim is heartbreaking (as he is cared for by Hana (Juliet Binoche), but he spins a fascinating life as an explored of the Sahara who would get drawn into a tragic love affair during the war. A film of great complexity and intensity that would set the trend for the high-end independent market.
The movie tells its story in flashbacks, where as in the book the protagonist tells the story to the nurse while under morphine. The protagonist had been a map maker and adventurer who had seen great days and love affairs.
Minghella had to struggle to get the money for this.