|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
The Remains Of The Day | Year: 1993 Classification: Drama Directed: - James Ivory Actors/Actresses: - Ben Chaplin - Hugh Grant - Anthony Hopkins - Lena Headey - Emma Thompson Thoroughly well acted and filmed "Remains of the Day" is a classic film from the Merchant-Ivory team that lifted the English drama genre out of BBC and PBS obscurity. It works seemlessly and beautifully between past and present, and shows the depth of human emotion behind upper-crust gentility. Anthony Hopkins is superb as Stevens, the head butler to an English lord whose naive sympathy for the Nazis lead to his downfall. Emma Thompson plays the head housekeeper who joins the manor staff and tries to shake Hopkins out of his emotional and political complacency. The attraction between the two grows out of the tension between doing one's duty and honoring one's feelings. As Thompson's character grows more restless, Hopkins' grows ever more resistant to her overtures. One excellent scene, where she invades his dark study, shows how the butler's training and detachment struggle against a growing affection: as Thompson tries to pry a book from Hopkins' fingers, you can hear the clench he maintains until the end. The film covers a lot of themes at once: loyalty, sacrifice, unrequited love, and regret. When Hopkins travels to search out Thompson nearly twenty years after WWII, it's as much for the chance at reviving love as it is for asking her to return to the manor. The end scenes are heart-rending without being maudlin. The other characters are also well done: James Fox as Lord Darlington, the old-fashioned aristocrat who plays the unwitting dupe for Nazi envoys in pre-Churchill Britain; Christopher Reeve as the realistic American politician who voices fear and dismay at the events in the manor (and becomes owner after the war); Peter Vaughan as Stevens' elderly father, and Hugh Grant as Darlington's nephew. Location shots are sumptuous, from the grand interiors of Darlington Hall to the English countryside. This is a film I enjoy seeing over and over. "The Remains of the Day" Remains Among Best Films of 1990's Without creating an elite among film viewers, "The Remains of the Day" divides spectators into two categories -- one is of those who are left indifferent by the movie, those who miss full-swing action and find the film too long and too boring. The other group (myself including) find it delightful and powerful, in a very special, understated way. Portraying a relationship of two people who sacrificed their lives to serving their lords, the story is enhanced by wonderful performances of Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. The two splendid actors met once again under the direction of James Ivory after starring in the previous Merchant-Ivory production hit, "Howards End". The story is set in the late 1950's, when the perfect butler from the pre-war era, Mr. Stevens (Hopkins), is on his way to visit the former housekeeper of Darlington Hall (where he remained), Miss Kenton (played by Thompson). The film's substantial part thus takes place in the 1930's, with the end section describing the reunion after the two decades. Their time for love, sadly, is long past. Yet Stevens had embarked on this journey, a little too late for making up for what he missed, when he was such a great, dependable servant to Lord Darlington. Darlington is a character cleverly thought up by the original novel author Kazuo Ishiguro, in that he is an example of a politician going completely in a wrong direction -- the history and the present have plenty of suchlike ones. The film's bulk is thus set in ominous undertones of pending World War II. Surging, restless score by Richard Robbins (not very good for listening on its own, without viewing) and beautiful cinematography help make the film what it is, a stunning work of art, but two main stars steal the show. You could say sometimes there is a lack of expression on the face of Stevens whatsoever and still it's a great acting. He just loses his temper once -- but Miss Kenton is not there to see it anymore. For that matter, Thompson's acting is, as always, equally superb -- her eyes and face speak volumes without words. Indeed, there is a lot of going on for a careful observer to see and digest in his/her mind while viewing this film. Subtly beautiful and ultimately quite sad, it leaves you with questioning your own priorities in life. If you haven't seen "The Remains of the Day" yet and you love films set in England ("Sense and Sensibility", "Gosford Park", "Howards End"), give yourself a treat a see it. James Ivory's masterpiece! This is a slow paced movie, but so well acted and directed that you miss the rhytm. You feel caught from the first images with the voice in off . The photography is splendid. The art is direction is spectacular . Buy The Remains Of The Day at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Remains Of The Day Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Remains Of The Day This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
