The Remains of the Day (1993)

A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years leading up to World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty was to his lordly employer.

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

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

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, John Haycraft

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 33 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Haycraft	...	Auctioneer
Christopher Reeve	...	Lewis
Anthony Hopkins	...	Stevens
Emma Thompson	...	Miss Kenton
Caroline Hunt	...	Landlady
James Fox	...	Lord Darlington
Peter Vaughan	...	Father
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	...	Cardinal

Storyline

Rule bound head butler Stevens' (Sir Anthony Hopkins') world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of housekeeper Miss Kenton (Dame Emma Thompson), who falls in love with him in pre-World War II 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 | housekeeper | manor | estate | class differences | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for themes

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dyrham Park was a natural choice for the exteriors of Darlington Hall. Built around the turn of the eighteenth century for a minister of William III, the honey-colored stone structure stands in the cleft of a valley, with a network of fields and unspoiled scenery stretching clear to the horizon, a long and winding drive providing captivating views through carefully crafted gaps in the surrounding park.

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Goofs

At the end of the film, we see an Exeter Transport bus, showing local St Leonards destination, 70 miles away in Clevedon.

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Quotes

Stevens: You know what I am doing, Miss Kenton? I am placing my thoughts elsewhere while you chatter away.

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Connections

References Foreign Correspondent (1940)

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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

If you have a normal 21st century attention span, you won't get it

I am disappointed to see reviewers refer to this movie as anti-war or a story of unrequited love or Lord Darlington as a Nazi or WWII as a nuclear holocaust. I think that perhaps these comments reflect both the lack of an adequate attention span and a lack of a proper knowledge and perspective of the times. "The Remains of the Day" requires both. I found it to be an interesting movie with many facets, each of which could be used as the sole theme of a movie. It is a movie that has great acting, is beautifully filmed in and around one of England's great mansions, and tells a fascinating and complex story as well.

It is true that the movie is about, in part, what many in the audience would believe is a romance that never has a chance because of Mr. Stevens' devotion to and pride in the occupation he has chosen. It is important to recognize that it is the job of his choosing, not one that has been forced upon him. It is tempting to write the job off as no more than servant of the wealthy, but it is actually the equivalent of presidency of a small company. Stevens is in charge of seeing that the large staff serving Darlington gets all of the many jobs in the household done - to perfection - every day of the week. I doubt that the White House has standards that approach those of Lord Darlington. So, each viewer can decide for himself or herself whether there could have ever been a woman in Stevens' life to whom he could give husband-like devotion.

Darlington is not a Nazi sympathizer. He is a man who exhibits the ideals of 20th century Britain: honor, fairness, and full devotion to what is right. He believes, most would say correctly, that the Treaty of Versailles was unduly harsh in its treatment of post-WWI Germany. Unfortunately, he fails to recognize, as many Americans do now, that unfairness in the past cannot be rectified by stupid policies in the present. So, by seeking what he considers fairness for Germany in the 1930's, when Hitler's evil and expansionist aims should have been clearly evident, he and others set the stage for a world-wide conflict that cost 60 million lives, of which the lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki constitute less than one-half of one percent.

One of my tests of a movie is how far into it I start looking at my watch. In this case I began looking at my watch not to see how much more I had to sit through: rather, I was hoping to assure myself that there was enough movie left to provide a satisfactory ending. There was: however, I could have enjoyed much more of the talent and story I was seeing.

Details

Official Sites:

Merchant Ivory Productions [United States]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

19 November 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Remains of the Day

Filming Locations:

Post Office, Limpley Stoke, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,528,982, 7 November 1993

Gross USA:

$23,237,911

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,237,911

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Merchant Ivory Productions

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:

2.39 : 1