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The Remains of the Day
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The Remains of the Day (1993) More at IMDbPro »

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The Remains of the Day (1993) -- A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years post World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty has been.

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   19,425 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 31% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
James Ivory
Writers (WGA):
Kazuo Ishiguro (novel)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Remains of the Day on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 November 1993 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Plot:
A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years post World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty has been. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 14 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Stars Pay Emotional Tributes to Late Merchant
 (From WENN. 27 May 2005)

Producer Ismail Merchant Dies at 68
 (From IMDb News. 25 May 2005)

User Comments:
Touching, tragic tale of one man's duty more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
John Haycraft ... Auctioneer

Christopher Reeve ... Jack Lewis

Anthony Hopkins ... James Stevens

Emma Thompson ... Miss Kenton
Caroline Hunt ... Landlady
James Fox ... Lord Darlington
Peter Vaughan ... William Stevens
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 ... Reginald Cardinal
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Additional Details

Runtime:
134 min
Country:
UK | USA
Language:
English | French | German
Colour:
Colour (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints) | SDDS (35 mm prints)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Anthony Hopkins, as a guest on the TV show "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994), said that he got tips on how to play a butler from a real-life butler, Cyril Dickman who served for 50 years at Buckingham Palace. The butler said there was nothing to being a butler, really - when you're in the room it should be even more empty. more
Goofs:
Continuity: In the scene where everyone is listening to the Baroness sing, Mr. Stevens pours Reginald Cardinal the same glass of wine twice in two continuous shots. more
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. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Girlfriends: The Remains of the Date (#1.6)" (2000) more
Soundtrack:
Sei mir gegrüsst more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
27 out of 31 people found the following comment useful:-
Touching, tragic tale of one man's duty, 4 February 2002
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

Ishiguro's story of duty finds career butler Mr Stevens preparing to meet Miss Kenton, once the head maid in his household. They have not seen each other for 15 years and once had an unspoken love. As he journeys down to meet her he remembers a lifetime spent in quiet, honourable service.

I don't like period pieces. Merchant-Ivory stuff usually feels very false and stifled to me. Here I didn't know what to expect but I was blown away from start to finish. To say the story is about a romance isn't the whole picture, to say it's about British-German politics pre-WW2 is not the full story. In fact the film is about it all - but the focus is Mr Stevens. He serves dinner while his father dies in an upstairs room, he puts his own opinions so far back that he doesn't have any, he is so focused on the proper way to serve that he never finds his own life. To describe in like this makes it sound very dull, and to some people it may be, but trust me - the story is beautifully observed and has so much going on in the background that it'll keep you interested. The main reason it works is a faultless central performance by Hopkins.

Hopkins drives the whole film. His face and his speech reveal more about his inner feelings than anything else. It can be frustrating to see him always put on a brave face and bury his emotions, but once you get his character (a man of quiet honour, dignity and respect - any wonder he seems otherworldly by modern standards) it's fine. He is fantastic - I cannot say it enough. His lot in life is moving, but what is incredibly moving is that he seems content to let his life slide by. The scene where Thompson's Miss Kenton confronts him about the book he is quietly reading is beautiful, truly beautiful - revealing their closeness and the depth of Stevens' heart. Thompson is also excellent in her role but doesn't have as much screen time as Hopkins. Fox, Reeves and Chaplin are all excellent in their roles.

If the film has a weakness it is that it doesn't judge the rich - even the Nazi sympathisers. It almost seems to revere the elite - I know they are not the focus but Merchant-Ivory always seems to be obsessed with how the other half live (or maybe they are part of the other half!). The ending is also a little disappointing because it's quite low-key, but it's very, very touching.

Overall this is excellent - I didn't think it would be that good, but it totally blew me away. Sit down and let this story unfold before you, let the characters develop and ensnare you. I guarantee you will be deeply moved by Hopkins. The rather crude message of `seize the day' is beautifully told in a rich tapestry of one man's life.

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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Mr. and Mrs. Benn darkeyez
Movie title. Johnny____
Miss Kenton was named Sarah not Mary moon-light
Lord Darlington's Bed bauhausblack
Did Stevens really love Miss Kenton? regimarcelom
Read the book Readerman
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