IMDb > Restoration (1995)
Restoration
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Restoration (1995) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   3,734 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Rose Tremain (novel)
Rupert Walters (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Restoration on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 February 1996 (Canada) more
Tagline:
In a world of seduction and power, temptation has its price.
Plot:
An aspiring young physician, Robert Merivel found himself in the service of King Charles II and saves the life of someone close to the King... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations more
User Comments:
The Age of Enlightenment more (35 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robert Downey Jr. ... Robert Merivel

Sam Neill ... King Charles II

David Thewlis ... John Pearce
Polly Walker ... Celia Clemence

Meg Ryan ... Katharine

Ian McKellen ... Will Gates

Hugh Grant ... Elias Finn

Ian McDiarmid ... Ambrose
Mary MacLeod ... Midwife
Mark Letheren ... Daniel
Sandy McDade ... Hannah
Rosalind Bennett ... Eleanor
Willie Ross ... Man with Visible Heart
David Gant ... Chiffinch

Benjamin Whitrow ... Merivel's Father
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for sexuality.
Runtime:
117 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Composer James Newton Howard's main theme is based on "Sarabande" by Georg Friedrich Händel (ca. 1705). more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: A player at three-card monte reports speaks of being "even Steven". The earliest known records of both the game and the phrase are in the 19th century. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Opening Title Card: In 1660 Charles II was restored to the English Throne ending 11 years of Oliver Cromwell's bleak Puritan rule. Thus began the age of Restoration. It was an era of scientific discovery, artistic exploration and luxurious sensuality.
Opening Title Card: It was also a time of natural disasters and archaic medical practices. Science was pitted against superstition. This is the story of one man's journey through the light and dark of those times.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Game K N B: (2007-03-03)" (2007) more

FAQ

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12 out of 15 people found the following comment useful.
The Age of Enlightenment, 10 May 2002
7/10
Author: Sample (sampleman411@earthlink.net) from Hollywood

After watching this film, I felt my faith in humanity had been (somewhat) restored, and not for the squishy, feel-good reasons either. Instead, I felt that filmmakers can often demonstrate truly wondrous, creative talents; Try not to think of all those sumptuous 18th Century European paintings that feature either the rich or the starving, while taking in the cinematic beauty of Hoffman's 'Restoration.'

So what if Meg Ryan has a role in this one, I still enjoyed it. This film is not about her anyway (the film is told from an exclusively patriarchal viewpoint, and doesn't sink into syrupy romance... at least not the way I saw it).

Eugenio Zannetti (I'm not entirely sure about the spelling, but he is a production designer of infinite wisdom and talent) created endless aristocratic hallways, gorgeous rooms, and locations of richness and pestilence that exist side-by-side. Zannetti went on to 'architecturally' design the central, Rococo menace in "The Haunting" (1999).

Downey Jr's performance (as a doctor) is Raphaelesque, a walking representation of the period in which this story takes place (the anguish and hope he must undergo and have is thespian splendor). Ian McKellan also appears (need I say more) here as a disheveled, yet benevolent supporting hero.

I strongly recommend you experience this 'restorative' piece of cinematic art.

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more (35 total)

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Would've been better ....... icarus_04
Twirling around the tree scene: Instrument? Kendra14
much less than sum of its parts? JohnnyUpton12
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