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The Remains of the Day

  • 1993
  • PG
  • 2h 14m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
89K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,288
218
Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in 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.
Play trailer2:24
3 Videos
99+ Photos
Period DramaDramaRomance

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.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.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
    • Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
  • Stars
    • Anthony Hopkins
    • Emma Thompson
    • John Haycraft
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    89K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,288
    218
    • Director
      • James Ivory
    • Writers
      • Kazuo Ishiguro
      • Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
    • Stars
      • Anthony Hopkins
      • Emma Thompson
      • John Haycraft
    • 263User reviews
    • 56Critic reviews
    • 86Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 8 Oscars
      • 17 wins & 42 nominations total

    Videos3

    Official Trailer 2
    Trailer 2:24
    Official Trailer 2
    The Remains of the Day
    Trailer 2:40
    The Remains of the Day
    The Remains of the Day
    Trailer 2:40
    The Remains of the Day
    The Remains of the Day
    Trailer 0:31
    The Remains of the Day

    Photos215

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    Top cast43

    Edit
    Anthony Hopkins
    Anthony Hopkins
    • Stevens
    Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson
    • Miss Kenton
    John Haycraft
    • Auctioneer
    Christopher Reeve
    Christopher Reeve
    • Lewis
    Caroline Hunt
    • Landlady
    James Fox
    James Fox
    • Lord Darlington
    Peter Vaughan
    Peter Vaughan
    • Father
    Paula Jacobs
    • Mrs. Mortimer, the Cook
    Ben Chaplin
    Ben Chaplin
    • Charlie, Head Footman
    Steve Dibben
    Steve Dibben
    • George, Second Footman
    Abigail Hopkins
    Abigail Hopkins
    • Housemaid
    • (as Abigail Harrison)
    Patrick Godfrey
    Patrick Godfrey
    • Spencer
    Peter Cellier
    Peter Cellier
    • Sir Leonard Bax
    Peter Halliday
    Peter Halliday
    • Canon Tufnell
    Hugh Grant
    Hugh Grant
    • Cardinal
    Terence Bayler
    Terence Bayler
    • Trimmer
    Jeffry Wickham
    Jeffry Wickham
    • Viscount Bigge
    Hugh Sweetman
    • Scullery Boy
    • Director
      • James Ivory
    • Writers
      • Kazuo Ishiguro
      • Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews263

    7.888.6K
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    Featured reviews

    dragon-90

    What do you most look forward to, Mr. Stevens?

    The crowning achievement of the Ismail Merchant/James Ivory partnership and their entire production team who give their absolute best in original music, cinematography, editing, art and set direction, costumes, and, of course, screenplay by Merchant/Ivory regular Ruth Prawler Jhabvala. Add flawless performances from the all-star cast and the result is almost too perfect. But there is just enough humility to this sad tale of unrequited love to make it completely believable.

    Anthony Hopkins excels as the impenetrable Mr. Stevens, Butler of a lordly country house in the final days of the British Empire, and Emma Thompson is superb as his foil, Housekeeper Miss Kenton. Both give wonderfully deep, sensitive portrayals of two complex lonely people who don't realize, until it's too late, that they belong together. Swirling around them is fascinating drama of life upstairs and downstairs and there are as many surprises and sub-plots to the story (based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro) as there are secret passages, nooks, and crannies in "Darlington House."

    An all-round first-rate cinematic experience, "Remains of the Day" is one of those pictures that lingers in the mind long after the credits pass. A must see. One poignant note: this was the return to the big screen of actor Christopher Reeve, as American millionaire Congressman Lewis, whose life nicely frames the storyline. Two years later Reeve became paralyzed after being thrown from a horse.
    8perfectbond

    Excellent drama

    Anthony Hopkins as Mr. Stevens in The Remains of the Day made for truly excellent drama. His portrayal of the dedicated butler was picture perfect. He conveyed all the controlled subtleties of his character with great conviction. Stevens' dedication to his profession above all other considerations was both admirable and sad. All his interactions felt genuine and his personal journey was set wonderfully against the historical setting of World War II era Europe. Even the Nazi angle was considered with a more even hand than it is usually treated with. The practical considerations of the politicians of the time added a great sense of realism. The high profile supporting cast was also in top form though make no mistake this is Hopkins' film. Strongly recommended, 9/10.
    8jckruize

    Muted drama with excellent performances.

    Impeccably cast and produced in typical Merchant-Ivory manner, this understated drama features superb performances by two of the finest actors in modern cinema, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Both an acid indictment of the British class system and an unflinching portrayal of a man who in the end cannot transcend his largely self-imposed limitations, the film is both fascinating and agonizing to watch and its cumulative emotional impact will stay with you long after it's over.

    There is an exquisite moment near the finale when Thompson's character bares only slightly a hint of the feelings she has for Hopkins, an allusion to what might have been between them. And Hopkins, in his consummate skill, maintains in both facial and vocal expressions the most non-committal of replies; his face a mask of bland affability but his eyes dark with the knowledge that he is a dead man who has wasted his life. With no outward show of emotion, the scene is devastating.

    THE REMAINS OF THE DAY may not be a happy film, but it is a memorable and powerful one.
    9Xstal

    The Sands of Decline...

    You're a butler who is focused, dedicated, from your birth you've become trained, domesticated, you're at the peak of your profession, it's you're life's only obsession, you're a eunuch, but it's your soul that's been castrated. Miss Kenton joins the staff as the Housekeeper, she speaks her mind, pleasant you find, you choose to defer; events unfold, you remain cold, she crosses Mr. Benn's threshold, and then she leaves, while you remain, just as you were. Some years later correspondence warms an ember, an opportunity that you passed, as you remember, is it too late, for a courtship, arrange in haste a short visit, to save a candle that in truth, was never lit.

    Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins are immense in a tale of guarded hearts and missed opportunities.
    10Sleepin_Dragon

    The greatest movie to not win an Oscar?

    Dutiful butler Stevens serves his master Lord Darlington diligently, obediently, without question, until he realises one day that his devout duty to the natural order of things, may have been wrong.

    A string of Oscar nominations, and not a single win, and then you realise what the competition was, Schindler's list, if only this film had been released a year either side, it may have done very well.

    It runs for just over the two hour mark, but somehow feels longer, I don't mean that as a negative, simply because there seems to be so much content, it's so deep and absorbing.

    Some may argue it's a little heavy, and I would agree, it is quite a heavy going film, but it's engrossing, and does have a few lighter moments, I'd have loved to overhear the conversation about the birds and the bees, you can only imagine.

    A tour de force from the legendary Anthony Hopkins, surely one of the best performances of all time? His delivery is exquisite, there isn't a single point where you don't thoroughly believe in his character, that moment where he learns of his father's fate, but carries on with his duties, it's incredible.

    Tha way the story is told is terrific, it moves backwards and forwards somewhat, but it isn't hard to keep up with, some films leave you baffled, there isn't a single sense of that here. It's a war film of sorts, but told from a very unique view point.

    The cinematography is unbelievable, the visuals are striking, there's an atmosphere and an intimacy about the way it's shot, it's remarkable.

    Hopkins, as I've mentioned is remarkable, but the likes of Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, James Fox and Peter Vaughan are all outstanding.

    10/10.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sir Anthony Hopkins, as a guest on Inside the Actors Studio (1994), said that he got tips on how to play a butler from real-life butler Cyril Dickman, who served for fifty years at Buckingham Palace. Dickman said "There's nothing to being a butler, really; when you're in the room, it should be even more empty."
    • Goofs
      As the camera recedes in the final aerial shot departing from the estate, it briefly reveals a modern, silver-colored hatchback automobile backed up to the left end of the building.
    • Quotes

      Stevens: In my philosophy, Mr. Benn, a man cannot call himself well-contented until he has done all he can to be of service to his employer. Of course, this assumes that one's employer is a superior person, not only in rank, or wealth, but in moral stature.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Fatal Instinct/Demolition Man/The Remains of the Day/Twenty Bucks (1993)
    • Soundtracks
      Blue Moon
      Composed by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 19, 1993 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Merchant Ivory Productions (United States)
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Lo que queda del día
    • Filming locations
      • Dyrham Park, Dyrham, Gloucestershire, England, UK(Darlington Hall: driveway and exterior of the Mansion)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Merchant Ivory Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $23,237,911
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,528,982
      • Nov 7, 1993
    • Gross worldwide
      • $23,240,144
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 14 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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