`PATIENT,' OTHER INDEPENDENTS PACE FIELD.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Writer

The epic wartime romance of ``The English Patient'' swept up more Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters than any other movie in a year in which the nominations offered a striking source of validation for the movie world's visionaries, mavericks and risk-takers.

``The English Patient,'' about the remembrances of a dying aviator whose plane has crashed in the North African desert during World War II, flew way ahead of the others with 12 nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing and Cinematography, along with acting nominations for all three key roles.

Other Best Picture contenders include ``Fargo,'' which drew seven nominations for brothers Joel and Ethan Coen's darkly comic vision of a Minnesota kidnapping that goes horribly wrong; and ``Jerry Maguire,'' with seven nods for its comic love story about a sports agent who finds meaning in his life after he tries to spurn the profit motive in favor of human values.

Also, ``Secrets & Lies,'' from English director Mike Leigh, which drew five nominations for its tragic-hilarious story of an adopted black woman who learns that her biological mother is white; and ``Shine,'' with five nods for director Scott Hicks' labor of love, 10 years in the making, about Australian piano prodigy David Helfgott and his remarkable return to performing after spending years in a mental institution.

Best Actor nominees are Ralph Fiennes for ``The English Patient,'' Woody Harrelson for ``The People vs. Larry Flynt,'' Geoffrey Rush for ``Shine,'' Tom Cruise for ``Jerry Maguire'' and Billy Bob Thornton for ``Sling Blade.''

For Best Actress, the nominees are Kristin Scott Thomas for ``The English Patient,'' Frances McDormand for ``Fargo,'' Brenda Blethyn for ``Secrets & Lies,'' Diane Keaton for ``Marvin's Room'' and Emily Watson for ``Breaking the Waves.''

For Best Supporting Actor, the nominated performers are Cuba Gooding Jr. for ``Jerry Maguire,'' William H. Macy for ``Fargo,'' Armin Mueller-Stahl for ``Shine,'' Edward Norton for ``Primal Fear'' and James Woods for ``Ghosts of Mississippi.''

For Best Supporting Actress, the nominees include Joan Allen in ``The Crucible,'' Lauren Bacall in ``The Mirror Has Two Faces,'' Juliette Binoche in ``The English Patient,'' Barbara Hershey in ``The Portrait of a Lady'' and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in ``Secrets & Lies.''

Fourteen of the 20 acting nominees are first-timers - including Hollywood veteran Lauren Bacall - making the recognition particularly meaningful in their careers. Only Cruise (for ``Born on the Fourth of July''), Fiennes (for ``Schindler's List''), Woods (for ``Salvador''), Keaton (for ``Reds'' and ``Annie Hall''), McDormand (for ``Mississippi Burning'') and Allen (for ``Nixon'') have been nominated for their previous work.

In the Best Directing category, nominees include Anthony Minghella for ``The English Patient,'' Joel Coen for ``Fargo,'' Milos Forman for ``The People vs. Larry Flynt,'' Mike Leigh for ``Secrets & Lies'' and Scott Hicks for ``Shine.''

In a year in which recognition for independent productions eclipsed the nominations for studio films by more than two to one in the eight key categories (28 nods for indie films vs. 12 for studios), the success of a long-shot vision such as ``The English Patient'' is particularly striking.

The prospect of financing a movie based on the passionate but challenging novel by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje was anathema to the studios, said director and screenwriter Minghella, who finally found his backers in veteran risk-taking producer Saul Zaentz and leading independent film company Miramax.

``It sends a message, but I don't know if anyone is going to be listening,'' said Zaentz, who also produced ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' and ``Amadeus.''

``We had such a terrible time finding someone to come along for the ride. Without Miramax, we wouldn't be talking today,'' said Minghella, speaking from Sydney, Australia, where he was promoting the release of the movie. ``They came up with a budget and didn't try to invade my vision of the film. They deserve every accolade.''

On the flip side, there's plenty of irony in the 16 nominations won by major studio Sony Pictures Entertainment (which includes Columbia and TriStar) in a year in which virtually all of the studio's top executives lost their jobs after a string of box-office flops. TriStar's ``Jerry Maguire'' is the only studio-made nominee in the Best Picture category, and the studio's ``Hamlet,'' ``The People vs. Larry Flynt,'' ``Ghosts of Mississippi'' and ``The Mirror Has Two Faces'' all won multiple nominations.

Among the surprises of this year's voting was the scant recognition for ``The People vs. Larry Flynt,'' which figured highly in the Golden Globe nominations and won two of those awards, for the screenwriters and director Milos Forman.

Forman, whose Oscar nomination for directing was one of only two Oscar nods for the picture (the other was for star Woody Harrelson) was quick to blame political backlash against accolades for the saga of ``Hustler'' magazine publisher Larry Flynt, in which public figures, including Gloria Steinem, decried the film's alleged dishonesty in portraying the pornographer.

``An unprecedented campaign was launched to injure `The People vs. Larry Flynt' and to sway the votes of the members of the academy,'' said Forman. Nonetheless, he said, ``I am honored by the nomination.''

``Evita'' was among the front-runners with five awards, but that didn't include recognition for star Madonna, who was more popular with Golden Globe voters. Nods for ``Evita'' included Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing, Sound and Original Song, for ``You Must Love Me.''

As for the two nominations for Billy Bob Thornton, whose screenplay and lead performance in ``Sling Blade'' got nods, nobody was more surprised than the Arkansas native, who got the news while traveling by train in a cell phone call from L.A. radio duo Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps of KLOS-FM (95.5).

``Good grief!'' Thornton exclaimed. ``You guys aren't fooling me, are you?''

All the Best Picture nominees except one were financed or released by independent companies, including Miramax, Gramercy, October and Fine Line.

The nominations underscore a growing divide in today's film industry, in which the risk-taking and the richer, more character-driven stories are coming from the independent sector, while studio output is increasingly driven by formula, special effects and the mass market imperative.

``Jerry Maguire,'' the only studio film to get a Best Picture nod, is also a character-driven story that celebrates human values over profits, perhaps striking a chord both with academy voters and moviegoers.

``To be the lone representative of Hollywood filmmaking in the Oscars - now that is funny,'' said the movie's director and writer, Cameron Crowe, after the nominations were announced.

``Maguire'' is the only one of the five Best Picture nominees that has done exceedingly well at the box office, with a gross of more than $100 million.

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos, box

PHOTO (1) The English Patient

(2) Jerry Maguire

(3) Shine

(4) Secrets & Lies

(5) Fargo

Box: And the nominees are...