Review 553: The Remains of the Day
Based on the historical novel The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. During the 1930s, James Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) serves as a proper English butler to the doltish Lord Darlington (James Fox). Stevens is so dedicated that he forgoes visiting his father on his deathbed in order to serve and overlooks Darlington's Nazi sympathies and growing anti-Semitism.
Twenty years after his employer's death in 1958, Stevens tries to reconnect with Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), Darlington's head housekeeper and begins to regret his loyalty to his former master.
The plot is a beautifuly crafted
The central theme of The Remains of the Day seems to be emotional blindness: Lord Darlington is blind to the threat of Nazi Germany, Stevens is blind to his employers faults as well as to the fact that Miss Kenton is in love with him. Both of them blunder ahead and destroy their lives all in the name of high sounding principles such as duty
Director James Ivory's direction is sensitive the cinematography is beautiful and captures the beauty and pristine of the 1930s. The production desing is fabulous: Darlington Hall is almost a character in of itself due to its rich history and how it has stood for the past two decades. The score by Richard Robbins is lovely and lush, the costumes are lavish,
Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson shine in this film like two fine wines. James Stevens and Sarah Kenton are both employees to a very powerful and influencial lord during a time of great unrest when
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