RIP Anthony Minghella

[Liam]

British film director and writer Anthony Minghella has died at the age of 54, his agent has said.

Minghella, whose films include Truly, Madly, Deeply and Cold Mountain, was chairman of the British Film Institute.

In 1997, he won an Oscar for directing The English Patient and was nominated for writing the screenplay for 1999's The Talented Mr Ripley.

He has also directed a TV episode of book The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, due to be screened this Easter.

A 90-minute pilot, directed by Minghella and co-written with Richard Curtis, is due to be broadcast on BBC One.

Film producer and friend Lord Puttnam said the industry would be "very shocked" to lose their "very well-loved" colleague.

"He said in a lecture last week that he saw himself as a writer who happened to direct, which I think was probably right," he told BBC News.

"He started as a writer, he was not a stylist as a director. He saw himself as a storyteller and his films were very well told, beautifully made and beautifully acted."

Opera debut

Minghella began his career as a writer with his early radio plays winning several awards.

He made his directorial debut in Truly, Madly, Deeply, in 1991.

He went on to write and direct film adaptations of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley.

He also directed 2003's Cold Mountain, starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for the film.

In 2005, Minghella directed his first opera, an English National Opera production of Madama Butterfly, at the company's Coliseum home, in London.

The same year, Minghella directed a Labour Party broadcast in their 2005 campaign for Tony Blair's third term.

The film comprised a conversation between Mr Blair and Gordon Brown about their biggest achievements since 1997 and their reasons why a third Labour term would be good for Britain.

When he took on the role of chairman of the British Film Institute (BFI) in 2003, Minghella said of the British film industry: "We're not getting enough movies made here, our studios aren't busy enough, we don't have enough studios.

"We're not good at lassoing the talent we have here and containing it within the British Isles, and we should all be working to address that."

I'm not a big film fan, but since this just broke an hour or so ago, thought I'd post it. RIP.

[CQI13]

That's pretty sad. Cause of death?

[MalaCloudy Black]

That's pretty sad. Cause of death?

I believe it was a brain hemmorhage after a neck surgery

[brenchill]

He died of an haemorrhage that was bought on by an operation on his neck to remove a cancer the previous week. His films weren't to my taste personally but he was a very good director. It'll be a big loss to the British Film Institute.

[Vilge Duin]

The English Patient was one of my favourite movies a few years ago. Especially after I read In The Skin of a Lion by Ondaatje, and came to appreciate certain themes and elements more. I haven't seen anything else from Minghella though, but from what I know he was a good director.

Sad for someone to go at only 54. That's a young age.

[maninblack]

I've watched Truly, Madly, Deeply, and it was a very good movie. He will indeed be missed.