Anthony Minghella

Anthony Minghella

Author: BBC Radio 4 November 9, 1997 Duration: 36:18

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the playwright and film director Anthony Minghella. He grew up on the Isle of Wight in a close-knit family of Italian descent, and says that he has never felt truly English. It is not surprising therefore that his most successful film explores questions of identity and nationality. That film, The English Patient, won nine Oscars. It is, he admits, unashamedly moving, since for him the purpose of fiction is to "exercise the emotional muscle". Music, too, plays an important part in his life. He listens to music as he writes and the structure of many of his plays and film scripts are influenced by it.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Mache Dich, Mein Herze, Rein by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Collected Piano Works by Bach Luxury: Piano


The archived conversations from Desert Island Discs: Archive 1996-2000 offer a unique portal into a specific era, capturing the cultural and personal landscapes of the late twentieth century through a timeless format. This curated collection from BBC Radio 4 presents the original, unedited interviews, allowing listeners to hear the candid reflections of notable guests as they selected the eight pieces of music they would take with them into isolation. The choices themselves become a compelling narrative device, revealing unexpected passions, pivotal life moments, and the soundtracks to both private struggles and public triumphs. Within this podcast, the discussion naturally expands beyond mere musical preference, touching on themes of memory, identity, and resilience. Each episode is more than an interview; it is a biographical sketch painted in sound, where a chosen symphony or pop song can unlock a story of loss, love, or revelation. These archived sessions provide a raw and intimate listening experience, free from contemporary edits or updates, preserving the original tone and context of conversations with figures from the worlds of arts, politics, science, and society. Tuning into this archive is an act of historical listening, where the desert island premise becomes a profound catalyst for self-disclosure and a lasting study of the human condition through the universal language of music.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Desert Island Discs: Archive 1996-2000
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