Many thanks to Marcia for sending in the following tribute to Anthony Minghella, who sadly died last week. Ed
For a film director, film is a journey through uncharted seas and particularly for Anthony Minghella, because he intuitively got inside the essence of the story, usually working from his own screenplay before putting together an amazing crew of old and new talents, to tell that story on film.
So we can remember him from the fine and varied work he produced in his relatively short life of fiftyfour years: from scripts and radio plays and workshops, through award winning films such as the good-feeling, ever popular “Truly Madly Deeply’, ‘Mr Wonderful’, ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’, ‘The English Patient’, ‘Cold Mountain’ and, recently ‘Breaking and Entering’. If you haven’t seen them you are in for a treat.
Anthony Minghella learned a new language for his interpretation of Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’, where he used his vivid imagination to put together music, voices, dancers, sets and puppetry in a visually stunning presentation of an old but sad story.
Edward and Gloria Minghella (father and mother) took a group of friends to see this on the 29 February at the London Colosseum (in aid of the Motor Neurone charity Gloria supports so well).
It was great. [Image shows Opening Night of Madame Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and is courtesy of Metroway]
Indeed, Anthony Minghella, who grew up on the Isle of Wight and as a young person helped in the Mayfair cafe and the family ice cream business, always paid tribute to his happy childhood here.
His family and many many friends will always cherish their individual memories of a truly extraordinarily kind, ever helpful, hardworking and talented person, who left life’s stage too soon.
The first public showing of Anthony Minghella’s last commissioned work”: ‘The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency’, from a book by Alexander McCall Smith, set in Botswana, was shown over the Easter weekend.
It’s another fascinating and well-told film. Having lived and worked in this former British protectorate I was surprised to see how truthfully the way of living and working came alive and enjoyable, seeing the unique landscape of low brown hills and roads that stretched for miles and miles.
The cast was well-chosen: no big names. But all gave tremendous performances in a gentle story line of a missing child taken for witchcraft purposes, an unfaithful husband and a counterfeit father. (No blood spilt and not a murder in sight!)
Apparently Mr Minghella really enjoyed his time in Africa and he certainly understood their cultures and customs.
He has set an impossibly high standard of creative endeavour to follow, but we are all the richer for it and he joins the Isle of Wight writers’ Hall of Fame that, like Brian Hinton’s recent book informs us stretches from Turgenev to Tennyson to Swinbourne, Dickens, JB Priestley, Longfellow, Kipling to Leonard Cohen and beyond.
It must be the clean, clear air and the ever-present glimpses of sea that so inspired them!
