Anthony Minghella

From Bach to Van Morrison.

Playwright and film director Anthony Minghella shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley.

Anthony 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.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1997.