UK Film Director Anthony Mingella has died.

March 18, 2008 6:52 AM

UK Film Director Anthony Minghella has died.
posted by Mintyblonde (52 comments total)

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posted by dobbs at 6:59 AM on March 18, 2008

Truly, madly, deeply...

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posted by jonp72 at 6:59 AM on March 18, 2008

Oh no! This is totally unexpected.
posted by sweetkid at 7:02 AM on March 18, 2008

The sun ain't gonna shine anymore...
posted by Iridic at 7:04 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by h00py at 7:17 AM on March 18, 2008

wow

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posted by mattbucher at 7:21 AM on March 18, 2008

Sad. But I do want to know what he died of - he was only 54 and, as yet, most reports simply say there are no further details...
posted by rhymer at 7:26 AM on March 18, 2008

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I liked 'Cold Mountain' but really wasn't a fan of his other films, 'English Patient' included. However he does appear to have done a good job as chairman of the BFI, driven up film production and attendances and as a regular visitor to London's South Bank I can report that the new BFI cinema complex is excellent. So

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posted by Mintyblonde at 7:40 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by Elsa at 7:43 AM on March 18, 2008

He was one of the 'real ones'.

Am shocked and saddened - he was one of the guys who really 'got it' - how to make big films - in an old-fashioned studio sense of an 'A' picture - a big film for Adults .

a loss.
posted by jettloe at 7:45 AM on March 18, 2008

It was through him I discovered the amazing Walter Murch...and that Matt Damon could act.

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posted by sixswitch at 7:45 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by headspace at 7:46 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by desuetude at 7:49 AM on March 18, 2008

crap.
posted by pointilist at 7:51 AM on March 18, 2008

Variety says it was a brain haemorrhage following a routine operation on his neck in London.
posted by unSane at 8:01 AM on March 18, 2008

Maybe his son will pick up where he left off.


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posted by skyper at 8:11 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by SentientAI at 8:30 AM on March 18, 2008

Damn.

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posted by languagehat at 8:36 AM on March 18, 2008

Ooh. The English Patient, despite its dulling reputation, is still one of my favorites (and is the rare book-to-film that worked well with a refocusing of the story).
posted by kittyprecious at 8:43 AM on March 18, 2008

Oh! and The Talented Mr. Ripley got such a bum rap...I forgot that was his handiwork too.
posted by kittyprecious at 8:48 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by OolooKitty at 8:48 AM on March 18, 2008

Truly sad. The guy was great.
(But can anyone explain to me why everyone is just posting a:)
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posted by stvspl at 8:52 AM on March 18, 2008

Movies get all the attention, but please credit him as a playwright as well as a flim director; he wrote the screenplays to several of his movies. He also directed theatre and at least one opera in addition to his film work.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:02 AM on March 18, 2008

respect

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posted by podwarrior at 9:03 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by hojoki at 9:08 AM on March 18, 2008

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> (But can anyone explain to me why everyone is just posting a:)
What does a single period in a comment by itself mean?
posted by ardgedee at 9:25 AM on March 18, 2008

Very sad. Truly, Madly, Deeply is one of my favorite films ever.
posted by tula at 9:33 AM on March 18, 2008

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This is very sad. My sister is good friends with his niece and they babysat his kids when he went to the Baftas to pick up a gong for Truly Madly Deeply. A very nice man by all accounts.
posted by jontyjago at 9:37 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:56 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by lalochezia at 10:00 AM on March 18, 2008

What a shame. Cold Mountain is a favourite of mine.
posted by orange swan at 10:08 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by saturnine at 10:21 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:35 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:40 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by LeeJay at 10:42 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by brundlefly at 10:52 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by malpractice at 11:28 AM on March 18, 2008

The Talented Mr. Ripley got a bum rap because the original (as well as the other ripley film American Friend) were much better. That said Truly, Madly, Deeply is one of my all-time favorites.

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posted by lumpenprole at 11:28 AM on March 18, 2008

So sad and unexpected. I met him recently and he was the most charming, gentle-seeming guy. He will be very much missed, both by the people who loved him as a person and by others who were touched by his work in the industry.
posted by vytae at 11:28 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by mariokrat at 11:36 AM on March 18, 2008

I was at university with him, in Hull, and we worked on a few projects together, including his first film (long before he was famous) on the Isle of Wight where his parents are renown for their ice cream.
He was very charming, very talented and very hard working. One of those people who you feel deserved all the success he got. Very sad.
posted by rolo at 11:43 AM on March 18, 2008

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posted by SageLeVoid at 11:54 AM on March 18, 2008

This is really sad, I loved his work. Ripley in particular I liked; it was not overly or distractingly styled, but extremely stylish. His adaptation of Beckett's Play for the Beckett on Film collection was just stunning.
posted by thermogenesis at 1:26 PM on March 18, 2008

And not just a director and playwright and theatre and opera director but an actor: he had a cameo in Atonement, as the television interviewer in the almost-final scene.

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posted by game warden to the events rhino at 2:19 PM on March 18, 2008

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posted by mattr at 2:43 PM on March 18, 2008

He had surgery in Charing Cross Hospital for an elective procedure to do with a growth(?) in his neck.
The fact that he bled out so much a week post surgery suggests an infective bleed.

What a loss......... what a horrible loss.
Please don't let this be some bizarre surgical error, please....

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posted by Wilder at 3:24 PM on March 18, 2008

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Seriously.

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posted by madpercolator at 3:24 PM on March 18, 2008

... his parents have an ice-cream business. Minghella showed little interest in following them into the business.

Good decision for the rest of us.

He did have cancer of the neck and tonsils, so this wasn't just a screw-up after elective surgery.

I will miss him.
posted by lukemeister at 3:51 PM on March 18, 2008

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posted by nnk at 3:56 PM on March 18, 2008

He took on the task of translating my favourite novel to the silver screen, changed parts of it radically, and yet still managed to give me my third favourite film.


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posted by roombythelake at 11:50 PM on March 18, 2008

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posted by lahersedor at 7:49 AM on March 19, 2008

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posted by crossoverman at 5:07 PM on March 19, 2008