Filmography: Colin Firth

Colin Firth is earning raves left and right for his portrayal of a gay man who loses the love of his life in A Single Man.

Amazingly enough, an Oscar nomination for this performance would be the first of his career. Firth has spent decades as an accomplished and impressive character actor who usually takes a backseat to the leads. One could argue, though, that without his solid supporting work, his costars would have had much harder jobs.

Firth turned in outstanding performances in The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, and Bridget Jones's Diary and saw seven of his costars go on to Academy Award nominations. Hopefully this year it's his turn for a bit of Oscar glory.

1984 Another Country (Tommy Judd)
1987 A Month in the Country (Tom Birkin)
1989 Apartment Zero (Adrian LeDuc), Valmont (Valmont)
1993 The Advocate (Richard Courtois)
1994 Playmaker (Michael Condron/Ross Talbert)
1995 Circle of Friends (Simon Westward), Pride and Prejudice (Fitzwilliam Darcy)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To some, Firth is the definitive Mr. Darcy. The acclaimed TV miniseries version of Jane Austen's classic made him the thinking girl's pinup, launched him to stardom and had women everywhere wishing for a Mr. Darcy of their own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1996 The English Patient (Geoffrey Clifton)
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In Anthony Minghella's wondrous, Oscar-winning masterpiece, Firth plays the jilted husband of Count Almasy's beloved Katharine. Somehow we manage to relate to him, even as he stands in the way of the lovers and ultimately ruins their chance at happiness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1997 A Thousand Acres (Jess Clark), Fever Pitch (Paul Ashworth)
1998 Shakespeare in Love (Lord Wessex)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As another antagonist to a pair of star-crossed lovers, Colin Firth gives one of the films's funniest performances (the other being from Geoffrey Rush). One of his best moments as Lord Wessex is as he announces to Lady Viola that they are to be married. She is devastated, of course, as she loves Will Shakespeare, but Wessex is utterly oblivious and says callously, "You are allowed to show your pleasure." This is a villain you love to hate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1999 My Life So Far (Edward Pettigrew)
2000 Relative Values (Peter Ingleton)
2001 Bridget Jones's Diary (Mark Darcy)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bridget Jones's Diary is a loose adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and Firth again tackles the character of Mr. Darcy (this time a lawyer and a resident of modern-day London), perhaps as a bit of an inside joke. Firth is yet again pitch-perfect as the antithesis of Hugh Grant's smugly charming Daniel Cleaver, and he proves himself an actor who doesn't take himself too seriously to start an all-out brawl to the tune of "It's Rainin' Men".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002 The Importance of Being Earnest (Jack Worthing)
2003 Girl with a Pearl Earring (Johannes Vermeer), Hope Springs (Colin Ware), Love Actually (Jamie Bennett), What a Girl Wants (Henry Dashwood)
2004 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Mark Darcy), Trauma (Ben Slater)
2005 Nanny McPhee (Cedric Brown), Where the Truth Lies (Vince Collins)
2007 The Last Legion (Aurelius), And When Did You Last See Your Father? (Blake Morrison), Then She Found Me (Frank), St. Trinian's (Geoffrey Thwaites)
2008 The Accidental Husband (Richard Bratton), Mamma Mia! (Harry Bright), Easy Virtue (Jim Whittaker), Genova (Joe)
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In perhaps the worst movie of 2008, Mamma Mia!, it's Firth, not Meryl Streep, who saves the day. His hysterical moments are the only ones in this musical disaster worth watching.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 A Christmas Carol (Fred), Dorian Gray (Lord Henry Wotton), A Single Man (George Falconer)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a gay man who struggles to find value in his life after his lover dies, Colin Firth is said to be incredible. Snatching up the Best Actor prize from the Venice Film Festival and topping a list of best performances at Toronto over at indieWIRE, Firth's performance was described as "impeccable" and a "career-best" by EW's Oscar blogger, Dave Karger.

THE ENGLISH PATIENT

Based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje
Written and directed by Anthony Minghella

Ralph Fiennes
Juliette Binoche
Willem Dafoe
Kristin Scott Thomas

Premiere date: November 6, 1996
R for sexuality, some violence and language.

In a field hospital in Italy during World War II, Hana, a nurse from Canada, is caring for a pilot who was horribly burned in a plane wreck. He has no identification and cannot remember his name, so he's known simply as "the English patient," because of his accent. When the hospital is forced to evacuate, Hana determines en route that the patient shouldn't be moved far due to his fragile condition, so the two are left in a monastery to be picked up later. In time, Hana begins to piece together the patient's story from the shards of his memories; he's actually Count Laszlo Almasy, an explorer working with a group mapping uncharted territory in North Africa. An Englishman soon joins Almasy's team, and travelling with him is his lovely and spirited wife, Katherine. Katherine and Laszlo soon fall in love, which leads Laszlo to betray his friend, his country and all that is dear to him.

National Board of Review
Best Supporting Actress - Juliette Binoche (TIE)
Best Supporting Actress - Kristin Scott Thomas (TIE)

12 Academy Award Nominations, 9 Wins
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor - Ralph Fiennes
Best Actress - Kristin Scott Thomas
Best Supporting Actress - Juliette Binoche
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Original Score
Best Sound

Best British Films: 25. The English Patient

The English Patient is a poetic film, a tragic love story and an experience. I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it. I was 15 or so, and probably didn't understand all of the movie's themes fully, but I knew I had watched something great, a work of art that I wouldn't soon forget.

1996 was a great year for film, ushering in the Coen brothers' great Fargo, Cameron Crowe's slick Jerry Maguire, and the indie wonder Trainspotting. The English Patient was the best of them, according to AMPAS.

The film follows a horribly scarred amnesiac mapmaker being cared for by an Allied nurse during World War II. A story of an intense love affair with the charming and beautiful wife of a colleague begins to unfold in a series of flashbacks. The passionate romance is not all there is to the man's past, which we learn when an intelligence agent arrives with knowledge of some shameful secrets.

The English Patient is ripe with visual splendor. Breathtaking cinematography, art direction, and costumes abound. The film's images make you feel deeply, a rare accomplishment I always appreciate. The desert setting is a canvas, and director Anthony Minghella paints on it with large, evocative strokes of genius and truth.

The performances in the film are brilliant, and somehow remain engaging despite an overlong running time. Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas are perfect as the practical people who are drawn into a passionate affair, and Juliette Binoche is marvelous as the nurse, Hana, who scrubs at the English patient's wounds and burned skin in desperate attempts to cleanse her own emotional war wounds.

The English Patient is a triumphant cinematic treasure that is, in my opinion, Minghella's finest work. A stunning, epic romantic adventure. ****/4