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.
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Director:
James Ivory
Stars:
Maggie Smith,
Helena Bonham Carter,
Denholm Elliott
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 pre-WWII Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.Written by
Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>
On Naziism and the World War II aspects of the movie, James Ivory commented: "The British Government was trying to keep England on an even keel, so that they would not have to go back to war. World War I was a terrible tragedy for that country, and no one wanted to face a war of that sort again. Historically, it seems now to have been a fruitless and dangerous kind of appeasement of a proven dictator, but a generation of young Englishmen had been recently decimated by the Germans, so it's not surprising that figures in the British government in the late thirties tried to reason with Hitler." See more »
Goofs
In one kitchen scene, in preparing for the banquet, we see a meat cleaver beheading a pheasant. However, when the head is thrown away, it is obvious that the head was previously severed, as the cleaver rests on a non-severed part of the pheasant's neck. See more »
Quotes
Stevens:
I was too busy serving to listen to the speeches.
See more »
In the WWII era, Mr Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) is a well experienced, dedicated butler who's loyal to his pro-Nazi master. He is always placid and graceful. Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) is a new housekeeper and her liveliness and wit somehow touches Mr Stevens' very soul. But he conceals his feeling towards her, and she can never unlock that closed door of his heart.
Mr Stevens looks back on all this while on a road trip for meeting Miss Kenton after twenty years. He now serves a new master, Lewis (Christopher Reeve) who was once one of the guests of his formal master back in the 1940s. On the way his memory slowly flows back to him (and he also realises that his formal master was not an impeccable man after all)...when Mr Stevens and Miss Kenton bid farewell again, she looks into his eyes while her tears roll down her cheeks...a very sad scene.
'The Remains of the Day' is about love that is never obtained...love that is never verbally expressed...love of which you finally has to let go...having read the book (which is finely written), I realise that this film is a wonderfully successful adaptation. Anyone who's into love stories should watch this.
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In the WWII era, Mr Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) is a well experienced, dedicated butler who's loyal to his pro-Nazi master. He is always placid and graceful. Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) is a new housekeeper and her liveliness and wit somehow touches Mr Stevens' very soul. But he conceals his feeling towards her, and she can never unlock that closed door of his heart.
Mr Stevens looks back on all this while on a road trip for meeting Miss Kenton after twenty years. He now serves a new master, Lewis (Christopher Reeve) who was once one of the guests of his formal master back in the 1940s. On the way his memory slowly flows back to him (and he also realises that his formal master was not an impeccable man after all)...when Mr Stevens and Miss Kenton bid farewell again, she looks into his eyes while her tears roll down her cheeks...a very sad scene.
'The Remains of the Day' is about love that is never obtained...love that is never verbally expressed...love of which you finally has to let go...having read the book (which is finely written), I realise that this film is a wonderfully successful adaptation. Anyone who's into love stories should watch this.