[Paisleychick-lj] Death

[Beatrice M's blog]

So everyone I know is blogging and twittering about the fact that Arthur C Clarke died today. While that is sad, I didn't know him. I did know [Anthony Minghella][1] and he unfortunately [died today at the young age of 54][2] - he hemorrhaged out from an operation to remove a lump on his neck. According to the [Times of London][3]:  
"The lump had appeared in the past month and Minghella had appeared to be making a routine recovery after the operation in Charing Cross Hospital last Tuesday, his agent said. But on Monday he suffered a haemorrhage — a risk with any throat surgery — and he died with his wife Carolyn at his bedside at about 5am yesterday."  
  
My family is still spinning from the shock. My father worked with him on [The English Patient][4], [The Talented Mr. Ripley][5] and [Cold Mountain][6]. I first met Anthony during the post production of The English Patient. He was an incredibly kind, intelligent and thoughtful man. He went out of his way to engage me, someone he could have easily passed over as I couldn't *do* anything for him. So many people in the film industry size up a person immediately and if they can't help you climb higher they don't matter. Anthony didn't play that game. The care that he took with people extended to his art and craft. His first love was writing and it transitioned to film. He would spend years working on a script, usually transforming a novel into a screenplay. He listened to input from others, and let people come up with their own passion for the work. One could say he was a hands off director, but that's not right. He let each person — actor, cinematographer, editor — find their own motivation and passion. The world has lost an amazing filmmaker and a wonderful man. Anthony - R.I.P.

   [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Minghella
   [2]: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWljhx-_W_aVyJ31Jjr06QC_dKwD8VG3UIO0
   [3]: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3578991.ece
   [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_English_Patient_%28film%29
   [5]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Talented_Mr._Ripley_%28film%29
   [6]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Mountain_%28film%29

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/335849.html