Contents

The Remains of the Day (film): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:46, 21 November 2022

The Remains of the Day
Theatrical-release poster
Directed by	James Ivory
Screenplay by	Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Harold Pinter (uncredited)
Based on	The Remains of the Day byKazuo Ishiguro
Produced by	Ismail Merchant Mike Nichols John Calley
Starring	Anthony Hopkins Emma Thompson James Fox Christopher Reeve Peter Vaughan Hugh Grant Michael Lonsdale Tim Pigott-Smith Lena Headey
Cinematography	Tony Pierce-Roberts
Edited by	Andrew Marcus
Music by	Richard Robbins
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Merchant Ivory Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	5 November 1993 (1993-11-05)
Running time	134 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom[1] United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$63.9 million[2]

The Remains of the Day is a 1993 British-American drama film adapted from the Booker Prize-winning 1988 novel of the same namebyKazuo Ishiguro. The film was directed by James Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant, Mike Nichols, and John Calley and adapted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It stars Anthony Hopkins as James Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton, with James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Hugh Grant, Ben Chaplin, and Lena Headey in supporting roles.

The film was a critical and box office success and it was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Actress (Thompson) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jhabvala). In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked The Remains of the Day the 64th-greatest British film of the 20th century.^[3]

Plot

This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In 1958 in postwar Britain, Stevens, the butler of Darlington Hall, receives a letter from the recently-separated Miss Kenton, a housekeeper two decades ago. Their former employer, the Earl of Darlington, has died a broken man, his reputation destroyed by his prewar support of Germany. He was labelled a traitor and Nazi sympathiser although his position was shared by many others in the mid-1930s. His stately country house was sold to retired US Congressman Jack Lewis. Allowed to borrow the Daimler, Stevens sets off to the West Country to try to persuade Miss Kenton to return as housekeeper.

A flashback shows Kenton's arrival as housekeeper in the 1930s. The ever-efficient Stevens manages the household well and prides in and derives his entire identity from his profession. Miss Kenton, equally invaluable, efficient and strong-willed, is warmer and less repressed. They occasionally butt heads, particularly over Stevens's father, now an under-butler, who is failing and no longer able to perform his duties, which Stevens refuses to see. He displays total professionalism by carrying on as his father lies dying.

Relations between Stevens and Kenton eventually thaw, and she clearly shows her feelings. Despite their proximity, Stevens outwardly remains detached since he is dedicated solely as Lord Darlington's butler. Greatly repressed, Stevens is caught reading a romance novel by Kenton, which he explains is to improve his vocabulary, and he asks her not to invade his privacy again.

Meanwhile, Darlington Hall is often frequented by politicians, most of whom are like-minded, fascist-sympathising British and European aristocrats, with the exception of Congressman Lewis, who disagrees with Lord Darlington and his guests. Calling the "gentleman politicians" meddling amateurs, he says that "Europe has become the arena of Realpolitik" and warns them of an impending disaster. Later, the aristocratic guest Spencer directs a series of political and economic questions to Stevens, who fails to answer. Spencer claims that shows the lower classes' ignorance and lack of worthy opinions, noting "Q.E.D."

British Prime Minister Chamberlain and German ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop meet, seeking appeasement and peace for Nazi Germany. In the midst of those events, and after exposure to Nazi racial laws, Darlington suddenly tells Stevens to dismiss the two newly appointed, refugee German-Jewish maids, despite his protest. Kenton threatens to resign if he does so but later confesses that she cannot as she has no family and nowhere to go. She believes that he did not care about the girls' fate. When later, Lord Darlington feels regret and wants to rehire the maids, neither Stevens nor Miss Kenton can locate them.

Lord Darlington's godson, journalist Reginald Cardinal, is appalled by the secret meetings in Darlington Hall. Concurring with Congressman Lewis's earlier protests, he tells Stevens that his godfather is being used by the Nazis. Despite Cardinal's indignation, Stevens does not denounce or criticise his master, since he feels that it is not his place to judge him.

Eventually, Kenton forms a relationship with a former co-worker, Tom Benn, who proposes and asks her to run a coastal boarding house with him. Kenton tells Stevens as an ultimatum, but he will not admit his feelings and only offers his congratulations. Finding her crying, his only response is to call her attention to a neglected domestic task. She leaves Darlington Hall prior to the start of the Second World War.

En route to meeting Kenton in 1958 in the Daimler, Stevens is mistaken for gentry by locals in a pub but chooses not to correct them. Doctor Carlisle, a local GP, speaks with him and realises that he is likely a manservant, but he says nothing. Promising to bring fuel the next morning to Stevens's car, he arrives with it, and correctly establishes Stevens's identity. Stevens explains his dilemma in the bar, and Carlisle, who is fascinated, asks Stevens what he thought about Lord Darlington's actions. At first denying having even met him, he later admits to having served and respected him. He states that it was not his place to either approve or disapprove, as he was merely a butler. He, however, confirms that Darlington admitted that his Nazi sympathies were misguided and he had been too naive. Lord Darlington was unable to correct his terrible error, but he was now en route to correct his own.

He meets Kenton (though separated, she is still Mrs. Benn), and they reminisce. Stevens mentions that Lord Darlington's godson, Reginald Cardinal, was killed in the war. He also says that Lord Darlington died from a broken heart after the war after he had attempted to sue a newspaper for libel, losing the suit and his reputation.

Miss Kenton declines the offer to return to Darlington Hall, as she wishes to remain near her pregnant grown daughter. She may go back to her husband, because, despite being unhappy for many years, he needs her. As they part, they are both quietly upset, Miss Kenton visibly tearful as her bus pulls away. Back at Darlington Hall, Lewis asks Stevens if he remembers much of the old days, and Stevens replies that he was too busy serving. A pigeon then becomes trapped in the hall and is eventually freed by them both, flying away with Stevens and Darlington Hall far behind.

Cast

Production

A film adaptation of the novel was originally planned to be directed by Mike Nichols from a script by Harold Pinter. Some of Pinter's script was used in the film, but, while Pinter was paid for his work, he asked to have his name removed from the credits, in keeping with his contract.^[a] Christopher C. Hudgins observes: "During our 1994 interview, Pinter told [Steven H.] Gale and me that he had learned his lesson after the revisions imposed on his script for The Handmaid's Tale, which he has decided not to publish. When his script for The Remains of the Day was radically revised by the James Ivory–Ismail Merchant partnership, he refused to allow his name to be listed in the credits" (125).^[b][c][d] Though no longer the director, Nichols remained associated with the project as one of its producers.

The music was recorded at Windmill Lane StudiosinDublin.

Settings

A number of English country estates were used as locations for the film, partly owing to the persuasive power of Ismail Merchant, who was able to cajole permission for the production to borrow houses not normally open to the public. Among them were Dyrham Park for the exterior of the house and the driveway, Powderham Castle (staircase, hall, music room, bedroom; used for the aqua-turquoise stairway scenes), Corsham Court (library and dining room) and Badminton House (servants' quarters, conservatory, entrance hall). Luciana Arrighi, the production designer, scouted most of these locations. Scenes were also shot in Weston-super-Mare, which stood in for Clevedon. The pub where Mr Stevens stays is the Hop Pole in Limpley Stoke; the shop featured is also in Limpley Stoke. The pub where Miss Kenton and Mr Benn meet is The George InninNorton St Philip.

Characters

The character of Sir Geoffrey Wren is based loosely on that of Sir Oswald Mosley, a British fascist active in the 1930s.^[4] Wren is depicted as a strict vegetarian, like Hitler.^[5] The 3rd Viscount Halifax (later created the 1st Earl of Halifax) also appears in the film. Lord Darlington tells Stevens that Halifax approved of the polish on the silver, and Lord Halifax himself later appears when Darlington meets secretly with the German Ambassador and his aides at night. Halifax was a chief architect of the British policy of appeasement from 1937 to 1939.^[6] The character of Congressman Jack Lewis in the film is a composite of two separate American characters in Kazuo Ishiguro's novel: Senator Lewis (who attends the pre-WW2 conference in Darlington Hall), and Mr Farraday, who succeeds Lord Darlington as master of Darlington Hall.

Soundtrack

The original score was composed by Richard Robbins. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, but lost to Schindler's List.

Track listing

1. Opening Titles, Darlington Hall – 7:27
2. The Keyhole and the Chinaman – 4:14
3. Tradition and Order – 1:51
4. The Conference Begins – 1:33
5. Sei Mir Gegrüsst (Schubert) – 4:13
6. The Cooks in the Kitchen – 1:34
7. Sir Geoffrey Wren and Stevens, Sr. – 2:41
8. You Mean a Great Deal to This House – 2:21
9. Loss and Separation – 6:19
10. Blue Moon – 4:57
11. Sentimental Love Story/Appeasement/In the Rain – 5:22
12. A Portrait Returns/Darlington Hall/End Credits – 6:54

Critical reception

The film has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 8.46/10. The consensus states: "Smart, elegant, and blessed with impeccable performances from Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, The Remains of the Day is a Merchant–Ivory classic."^[7]AtMetacritic, which assigns a weighted average out of 100 to critics' reviews, it received a score of 86 based on 12 reviews.^[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.^[9]

Roger Ebert particularly praised the film, calling it "a subtle, thoughtful movie."^[10] In his favorable review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "Put Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and James Fox together and you can expect sterling performances."^[11] Vincent CanbyofThe New York Times said, in another favorable review, "Here's a film for adults. It's also about time to recognize that Mr. Ivory is one of our finest directors, something that critics tend to overlook because most of his films have been literary adaptations."^[12]

The film was named as one of the best films of 1993 by over 50 critics, making it the fifth-most-acclaimed film of 1993.^[13]

Awards and nominations

• The film is #64 at the British Film Institute's "Top 100 British films".
• The film was also nominated for the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Passions" list.^[30]

See also

• BFI Top 100 British films

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Gale, Steven H. Sharp Cut: Harold Pinter's Screenplays and the Artistic Process. Lexington, Ky.: The University Press of Kentucky, 2003.
• Gale, Steven H., ed. The Films of Harold Pinter. Albany: SUNY Press, 2001.
• Hudgins, Christopher C. "Harold Pinter's Lolita: 'My Sin, My Soul'." In The Films of Harold Pinter. Steven H. Gale, ed. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 2001.
• Hudgins, Christopher C. "Three Unpublished Harold Pinter Filmscripts: The Handmaid's Tale, The Remains of the Day, Lolita." The Pinter Review: Nobel Prize / Europe Theatre Prize Volume: 2005 – 2008. Francis Gillen with Steven H. Gale, eds. Tampa, Fla.: University of Tampa Press, 2008.

External links

• The Remains of the DayatIMDb
• The Remains of the DayatAllMovie
• The Remains of the Day at the TCM Movie Database
• The Remains of the Day at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Remains of the DayatMerchant Ivory Productions
• The Remains of the DayatRotten Tomatoes
• The Remains of the DayatBox Office Mojo