The Razor's Edge (1984)

He had everything and wanted nothing. He learned that he had nothing and wanted everything. He saved the world and then it shattered. The path to enlightenment is as sharp and narrow as a razor's edge.

Director:

John Byrum

Writers:

W. Somerset Maugham (novel), John Byrum (screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Denholm Elliott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Murray	...	Larry Darrell
Theresa Russell	...	Sophie MacDonald
Catherine Hicks	...	Isabel Bradley
Denholm Elliott	...	Elliott Templeton
James Keach	...	Gray Maturin
Peter Vaughan	...	Mackenzie
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Piedmont
Stephen Davies	...	Malcolm
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Raaz
Faith Brook	...	Louisa Bradley (Isabel's mother)
André Maranne	...	Joseph, the Butler (as Andre Maranne)
Bruce Boa	...	Henry Maturin
Serge Feuillard	...	Coco
Joris Stuyck	...	Bob MacDonald
Helen Horton	...	Red Cross lady

Storyline

Larry Darrell returns from the battlefields of World War I to America a different person. His fiance (Isabel) resigns herself to a delay in the wedding plans when Larry heads off to Paris. There he finds he prefers a simpler existence and begins to read. One book inspires him to visit India and on to Nepal where he finds spiritual help from a lama. On returning to Paris he finds Isabel and some old friends. Everyone has changed.

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Plot Keywords:

wedding | lama | india | buddhist | wounded soldier | 

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Taglines:

The story of one man's search for himself.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf Messers Schneide

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,411,311, 21 October 1984, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,551,987

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Colgems Productions Ltd., Marcucci-Cohen-Benn Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While he was thinking of making a film adaptation of The Razor's Edge, John Byrum gave a copy of the novel to his friend, Bill Murray. Byrum got a phone call the next morning at 4 o'clock from Murray saying, "This is Larry. Larry Darrell."

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Quotes

Mackenzie: I never lend books to coal miners.

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Connections

Remake of The Razor's Edge (1946)

User Reviews

Very enjoyable film - good pace/feel/look/ideas.

"The Razor's Edge" is based on a novel of the same title.

"The Razor's Edge" takes place over at least a decade, moving from the midwestern U.S to WWI in Europe to Paris and what might be Tibet and back to Paris again. It's a nice film to look at, as the period and place production really sucks one into the story, and has what I thought of as a cozy pacing, but what some might think drags on a little (it was a great, alone-on-a-rainy-Sunday, laying-on-the-couch rental for me).

The film does a good job of playing ideas with scenes, and playing the ideas/scenes off of seemingly drastically different ones, from the barren emptiness of a battlefield to the uplifting emptiness of the Himalayas, to the warm loneliness of a Paris café, to the cold loneliness of a rich man's death bed.

This is obviously a true labor of love for Bill Murray. He nails his character and the ideas the script attempts to channel through his character's development. Hopefully, now that somehow people can "accept" Bill Murray as not "just" an overtly comedic actor (with the success of "Lost in Translation") people will be more open to enjoying this very good film.