Day 166 - The Remains of the Day

Day 166          The Remains of the Day [1993]

                          

Screenplay                    Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Based on                       ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro

Director                         James Ivory

Cinematography            Tony Pierce-Roberts

Music                            Richard Robbins

Leads                            Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Hugh Grant, Peter Vaughan, Michael Lonsdale, Ben Chaplin, Tim Pigott-Smith

Production                     Merchant Ivory Productions

IMDb                                 7.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes                97%

Here’s a drinking game to make this film less depressing – take a swig of your drink every time you hear the name ‘Stevens’. If you’re drinking anything stronger than beer I’m pretty sure you won’t make it to the end of the film. An adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s booker prize winning novel, this film is a lesson in acting from two of Britain’s finest. I don’t know why people bother paying for acting schools when all you need to spend is a few hundred quid on Thompson and Hopkins’ filmography. It is a film about things left unsaid. Could have, would have, should have. Hopkins plays Darlington Hall’s incredibly dignified butler Mr Stevens. A man who was born and raised a butler and it has thus affected his ability to express his true emotions. He is committed entirely to his duties, thus affecting his social life as well as his morals. Thompson plays Darlington Hall’s housekeeper, Miss Kenton, who is outstanding at her job but is more human with regard to her feelings, consistently arguing with Mr Stevens for his lack of empathy and cold heart. It’s a ‘will they or won’t they’ theme for much of the film. We know this simply from mannerism, expressions and tone of voice – an acting masterclass (in case I haven’t mentioned it already). If you’ve read the book you’ll understand that it’s a rather miserable film based on a rather glum subject, and yet there are some everlasting positive quotes that can be drawn from it. I encourage you all to read the book first, however this is about as good an adaptation as you are going to get.

Acting                              4 / 4

Writing                             3 / 4

Cinematography            2.5 / 4

Music                               2 / 4

HWF rating                  3 / 4