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

Videos (see all 2 NEW)
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.
The Remains of the Day (1993) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   20,200 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 17% in popularity this week. See why 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 & 15 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
Blu-ray Review: Howards End (Criterion Collection)
 (From Rope Of Silicon. 3 November 2009, 3:30 AM, PST)

Hey Kids - It's Time to Play Poovie With Justin Long!
 (From MTV Movies Blog. 16 October 2009, 3:00 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
The best story of unrequited love in cinema history. more (124 total)

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
Color:
Color (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:
At one point, Anjelica Huston was being courted for the part of the housekeeper. Jeremy Irons had also been considered for a part in the film. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: The road markings at the junction outside the George Inn in Norton St Philip are modern; dashed double white lines were not around in the 1950s. more
Quotes:
James Stevens: If two members of staff have to fall in love and decide to get married, there's nothing one can say. But what I do find a major irritation are those persons who are simply going from post to post looking for romance. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in I Want Candy (2007) more
Soundtrack:
Sei mir gegrüsst more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
63 out of 68 people found the following comment useful.
The best story of unrequited love in cinema history., 30 July 2003
10/10
Author: sdillon-1 from UK

This is, in my opinion, the finest film in the Merchant Ivory canon. And to hail it as such is to grossly undersell it. It is not only that but also the best story of unrequited love in cinema history, and a masterpiece of understated emotion. It also boasts some of the finest performances ever put on film, most notably from the peerless Anthony Hopkins.

Then again, understatement is the key to this film. Writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Director James Ivory adapt Kazuo Ishiguro's poignant novel with such delicacy that it gets under ones skin in a deeply profound way difficult to express in a few words.

The plot opens in the 1950's as meticulous and emotionally repressed butler Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) reviews a lifetime of service in Darlington Hall. The story flashes back to the 1930's where Stevens formed a close friendship with housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson). This relationship grew slowly over several years and ultimately the pair developed romantic feelings for one another, although neither admitted it. Whilst all this was happening, Steven's employer Lord Darlington (Edward Fox) gradually became a misguided Nazi sympathiser in pre-war Europe. Unfortunately, loyalty to his master caused Stevens to reject the delicate advances of Miss Kenton. History took its inevitable course, and Darlington's involvement in appeasement contributed to the outbreak of World War II. Now Stevens realises he made a mistake and wants to make amends.

To describe Anthony Hopkins as brilliant is completely redundant. His turn here goes way beyond mere acting, and it was criminal he was denied the Oscar at the 1994 Academy awards. Stevens absurdly repressed personality gently takes the audience from laughter to tears in the most emotionally devastating finale I have ever seen. Hopkin's mesmerising performance is matched by a career-best turn from Emma Thompson. The supporting cast is uniformly superb, including a pre-Four Weddings Hugh Grant and Christopher Reeve in one of his last roles before the accident that paralysed him.

Needless to say, the cinematography, music, editing and art direction are immaculate. The understated beauty of the English countryside that was so important to the book translates brilliantly to film here.

This is a lovely, melancholic film, which effortlessly embraces complex themes such as misguided loyalty, dignity, pride, wasted lives, and unrequited love. It would be all too much to bear if it weren't for the film's genuine good-humoured understanding of English culture (all the more remarkable for having been initially penned by a Japanese author). In fact, humour is an important element in the film. There are many laugh-out-loud moments, which make the tragic part of the story all the more real and poignant. All in all, The Remains of the Day is a milestone film – an unforgettable tragedy of a man who pays the terrible price of denying his own feelings.

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Did Stevens really love Miss Kenton? regimarcelom
'Remains of the Day' - the Musical chattan258
Does anyone else cry? Tjcat
Read the book Readerman
What do you think Stevens would have done? cwaters-3
Nazi Comment justlev
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