The Remains of the Day (1993)

Director:

James Ivory

Writers (WGA):

Kazuo Ishiguro (novel)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 November 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years post World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty has been.

Plot Keywords:

Marriage Proposal | Repressed Love | Unhappy Marriage | Estranged Wife | Toast

Awards:

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

John Haycraft	...	Auctioneer
Christopher Reeve	...	Jack Lewis
Anthony Hopkins	...	James Stevens
Emma Thompson	...	Mary Kenton
Caroline Hunt	...	Landlady
James Fox	...	Lord Darlington
Peter Vaughan	...	William Stevens
Paula Jacobs	...	Mrs. Mortimer, the cook
Ben Chaplin	...	Charlie, Head Footman
Steve Dibben	...	George, Second Footman
Abigail Hopkins	...	Housemaid (as Abigail Harrison)
Patrick Godfrey	...	Spencer
Peter Cellier	...	Sir Leonard Bax
Peter Halliday	...	Canon Tufnell
Hugh Grant	...	Reginald Cardinal

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints) | SDDS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Iceland:L | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Ireland:G | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Badminton House, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company:

Merchant Ivory Productions

Trivia:

In spite of the fact that this film is, in many ways, a love story, there is not a single scene of romance in the whole movie--the one attempt Miss Kenton makes is curtly and directly refused, never to be repeated.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The road markings at the junction outside the George Inn in Norton St Philip are modern; dashed double white lines were not around in the 1950s.

Quotes:

James Stevens: I don't believe a man can consider himself fully content until he has done all he can to be of service to his employer.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Law & Order: Remains of the Day (#17.11)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Sei mir gegrüsst

Masterful, restrained, heart-rending

As a rule, I am not a fan of Merchant Ivory's particular brand of costume drama. Though always well-lit, finely honed, pruidently adapted most of them suffer from the intense politeness of the filmmaking, often substituting reverence for literature for a love of the books themselves (The Bostonians and the awful version of Maurice are my witness) only Ruth Prawer Jabwala's adaptation of her own novel 'Heat and Dust' previously seemed compelling

In Remains of the Day, this very claustrophobic, conservative approach serves the material perfcectly. This is, after all, a story of repression and features one of Anthony Hopkins finest achievements. As Mr Stevens, the butler and gentleman's gentleman, he is capable of feeling - he is after all human - but incapable of showing any feeling: for his father, against his employer, for the woman (Emma Thompson) he loves. This frustrated passion between Hopkins and Thompson drives the film; but everything about it is magnificently observed. The facile, idealistic British flirtation with National Socialism and appeasement, the sense of position, the paternalistic worldview of 'Old Europe' are a world away from anything we know and yet, politically, a barely a generation away. The adaptation is excellent and the supporting cast almost perfect... it is achingly sad and frustrating, brilliantly acted (especially the magisterial Peter Vaughan) and - from the scant distance of fifty years - a perfect miniature of the terrifyingly sterile world we have left behind