All the familiar Merchant Ivory touches are here in their last collaboration - a rich historical setting, characters who struggle quietly with their emotions, deliberate pacing and luxuriant production values. But sadly, this 2005 romantic epic is a plodding, overly fanciful production despite the best efforts of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro. It's a shame given the pedigree, but the movie does provide quite a few visual images of arresting power, especially during the climactic exodus scenes with masses of people emptying Shanghai amid junks engulfed in flames. It is the broad tableaux aspect of the production that most resonates.
Set in 1936 Shanghai, the story focuses on an American expatriate named Todd Jackson, a blind widower who falls for Sofia, a Russian countess who has been exiled and forced to support her extended family as a taxi dancer. Aided by a mysterious but friendly Japanese man who becomes his friend, Jackson opens up his own plush bar named after her, the White Countess, and she is the glamorous centerpiece of the establishment. Her cruel mother and disapproving sister denounce Sofia's profession, although emotional support comes from her dowager aunt and Samuel Feinstein, a kindly neighbor who is constantly persecuted for being Jewish. Meanwhile, the Japanese are invading Shanghai forcing all the locals to escape their tyranny.
Reminiscent of "Casablanca" and "Doctor Zhivago", this all sounds compelling, and as a political backdrop, it is. However, the glacial pace of the plot undermines the passion needed to make the movie truly involving for the viewer. In fact, the emotionally cloistered characters that inhabit most Merchant Ivory films, including this one, just seem out of place here. As Jackson, Ralph Fiennes manages to transcend his conflicted character with his usual dexterity, even though his role fluctuates wildly between heroic and naïve. Sporting a somewhat saturated Slavic accent but lacking in the requisite charisma, Natasha Richardson is less successful in the title role with her world-weary demeanor coming across as rather affected. More impressive are the actors in the smaller roles, in particular, Hiroyuki Sanada as the enigmatic Matsuda; Allen Corduner as the supportive Feinstein; and in an ironic (though I assume, intentional) role reversal, Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, as well-meaning Aunt Vera and Richardson's aunt, Lynn Redgrave, as Sofia's judgmental mother Olga.
The technical aspects of the production are first-rate from Christopher Doyle's lushly expert cinematography (he has done several of Wong Kar-wai's films including the dazzling "2046"); Andrew Sanders' period-perfect production design and John Bright's evocative costumes. The extras on the 2006 DVD are standard issue with Ivory and Richardson lending revealing insight in the alternate commentary track. There are also three brief featurettes included - the first a somewhat self-congratulatory behind-the-scenes short with brief comments from cast and crew, the second a making-of short that speaks to the more technical aspects of the production and the third a respectful tribute to Merchant, who died in May of last year.
Set in 1936 Shanghai, the story focuses on an American expatriate named Todd Jackson, a blind widower who falls for Sofia, a Russian countess who has been exiled and forced to support her extended family as a taxi dancer. Aided by a mysterious but friendly Japanese man who becomes his friend, Jackson opens up his own plush bar named after her, the White Countess, and she is the glamorous centerpiece of the establishment. Her cruel mother and disapproving sister denounce Sofia's profession, although emotional support comes from her dowager aunt and Samuel Feinstein, a kindly neighbor who is constantly persecuted for being Jewish. Meanwhile, the Japanese are invading Shanghai forcing all the locals to escape their tyranny.
Reminiscent of "Casablanca" and "Doctor Zhivago", this all sounds compelling, and as a political backdrop, it is. However, the glacial pace of the plot undermines the passion needed to make the movie truly involving for the viewer. In fact, the emotionally cloistered characters that inhabit most Merchant Ivory films, including this one, just seem out of place here. As Jackson, Ralph Fiennes manages to transcend his conflicted character with his usual dexterity, even though his role fluctuates wildly between heroic and naïve. Sporting a somewhat saturated Slavic accent but lacking in the requisite charisma, Natasha Richardson is less successful in the title role with her world-weary demeanor coming across as rather affected. More impressive are the actors in the smaller roles, in particular, Hiroyuki Sanada as the enigmatic Matsuda; Allen Corduner as the supportive Feinstein; and in an ironic (though I assume, intentional) role reversal, Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, as well-meaning Aunt Vera and Richardson's aunt, Lynn Redgrave, as Sofia's judgmental mother Olga.
The technical aspects of the production are first-rate from Christopher Doyle's lushly expert cinematography (he has done several of Wong Kar-wai's films including the dazzling "2046"); Andrew Sanders' period-perfect production design and John Bright's evocative costumes. The extras on the 2006 DVD are standard issue with Ivory and Richardson lending revealing insight in the alternate commentary track. There are also three brief featurettes included - the first a somewhat self-congratulatory behind-the-scenes short with brief comments from cast and crew, the second a making-of short that speaks to the more technical aspects of the production and the third a respectful tribute to Merchant, who died in May of last year.