The Remains of the Day (1993)

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.

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

Kazuo Ishiguro (novel), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Stars:

John Haycraft, Christopher Reeve, Anthony Hopkins

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Haycraft	...	Auctioneer
Christopher Reeve	...	Jack Lewis
Anthony Hopkins	...	James Stevens
Emma Thompson	...	Miss 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

Storyline

A rule bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in post-WWI Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.

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Plot Keywords:

butler | nazi | loyalty | service | britain | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for themes

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

19 November 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lo que queda del día

Filming Locations:

Seafront, Clevedon, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$11,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$22,954,968 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Merchant Ivory Productions, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hugh Grant stated that it is the best film he have ever done.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Miss Kenton: Look at it! Is that or is it not the wrong chinaman?
Stevens: Miss Kenton, I'm very busy. I am surprised that you have nothing better to do than stand around all day...
Miss Kenton: Mr. Stevens, look at that chinaman and tell me the truth!
Stevens: Miss Kenton, I would ask you to keep your voice down. What would the other servants think to hear us shouting at the top of our voices about... chinamen?
Miss Kenton: And I would ask you, Mr. Stevens, to turn around and look at the chinaman.

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Connections

Referenced in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Good Will Haunting (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Roll Along Prairie Moon"
Composed by Ted Fio Rito, Albert von Tilzer and Harry MacPherson
Performed by Gracie Fields

User Reviews

The best story of unrequited love in cinema history.

This is, in my opinion, the finest film in the Merchant Ivory canon. And to hail it as such is to grossly undersell it. It is not only that but also the best story of unrequited love in cinema history, and a masterpiece of understated emotion. It also boasts some of the finest performances ever put on film, most notably from the peerless Anthony Hopkins.

Then again, understatement is the key to this film. Writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Director James Ivory adapt Kazuo Ishiguro's poignant novel with such delicacy that it gets under ones skin in a deeply profound way difficult to express in a few words.

The plot opens in the 1950's as meticulous and emotionally repressed butler Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) reviews a lifetime of service in Darlington Hall. The story flashes back to the 1930's where Stevens formed a close friendship with housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson). This relationship grew slowly over several years and ultimately the pair developed romantic feelings for one another, although neither admitted it. Whilst all this was happening, Steven's employer Lord Darlington (Edward Fox) gradually became a misguided Nazi sympathiser in pre-war Europe. Unfortunately, loyalty to his master caused Stevens to reject the delicate advances of Miss Kenton. History took its inevitable course, and Darlington's involvement in appeasement contributed to the outbreak of World War II. Now Stevens realises he made a mistake and wants to make amends.

To describe Anthony Hopkins as brilliant is completely redundant. His turn here goes way beyond mere acting, and it was criminal he was denied the Oscar at the 1994 Academy awards. Stevens absurdly repressed personality gently takes the audience from laughter to tears in the most emotionally devastating finale I have ever seen. Hopkin's mesmerising performance is matched by a career-best turn from Emma Thompson. The supporting cast is uniformly superb, including a pre-Four Weddings Hugh Grant and Christopher Reeve in one of his last roles before the accident that paralysed him.

Needless to say, the cinematography, music, editing and art direction are immaculate. The understated beauty of the English countryside that was so important to the book translates brilliantly to film here.

This is a lovely, melancholic film, which effortlessly embraces complex themes such as misguided loyalty, dignity, pride, wasted lives, and unrequited love. It would be all too much to bear if it weren't for the film's genuine good-humoured understanding of English culture (all the more remarkable for having been initially penned by a Japanese author). In fact, humour is an important element in the film. There are many laugh-out-loud moments, which make the tragic part of the story all the more real and poignant. All in all, The Remains of the Day is a milestone film – an unforgettable tragedy of a man who pays the terrible price of denying his own feelings.