The Remains of the Day (1993)

Director:

James Ivory

Writers (WGA):

Kazuo Ishiguro (novel)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 November 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

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.

Plot Keywords:

Upstairs Downstairs | Book | Male Female Relationship | Estrangement | Marriage Proposal

Awards:

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

John Haycraft	...	Auctioneer
Christopher Reeve	...	Jack Lewis
Anthony Hopkins	...	James Stevens
Emma Thompson	...	Mary 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

Also Known As:

Lo que queda del día (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Återstoden av dagen (Sweden) [sv]
Despojos do Dia, Os (Portugal) [pt]
Napok romjai (Hungary) [hu]
Ostanki dneva (Slovenia) [sl]
Pitkän päivän ilta (Finland) [fi]
Quel che resta del giorno (Italy) [it]
Shearit Ha-Yom (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Vestígios do Dia (Brazil) [pt]
Vestiges du jour (Canada: French title) [fr]
Vestiges du jour, Les (France) (dubbed version) [fr]
Was vom Tage übrig blieb (Germany) [de]

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints) | SDDS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Ireland:G | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Badminton House, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company:

Merchant Ivory Productions

Trivia:

In spite of the fact that this film is, in many ways, a love story, there is not a single scene of romance in the whole movie--the one attempt Miss Kenton makes is curtly and directly refused, never to be repeated.

Goofs:

Continuity: (or possibly just character error) At the very beginning Miss Kenton mentions a conference "back in 1936". At the very end of the film, Lewis asks, "Isn't this the same room where we all attended that banquet back in 1935?"

Quotes:

Miss Kenton: Look at it! Is that or is it not the wrong chinaman?
Stevens: Miss Kenton, I'm very busy. I am surprised that you have nothing better to do than stand around all day...
Miss Kenton: Mr. Stevens, look at that chinaman and tell me the truth!
Stevens: Miss Kenton, I would ask you to keep your voice down. What would the other servants think to hear us shouting at the top of our voices about... chinamen?
Miss Kenton: And I would ask you, Mr. Stevens, to turn around and look at the chinaman.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Remains of the Day: The Filmaker's Journey (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sei mir gegrüsst

Diamond in the Rough

Very deliberate but marvelous study of a lifetime butler in an English noble household. The film does a wonderful parallel examination of the man's life set against the tumult of the 1930s that effectively did away with the British Empire and made him and others like him, as people curiously obsolete.

An extremely rare example of sanity when dealing with the subject of War. Most films as we know too well, concentrate on the futility and bottom line cost in humanity, which is to be expected since generally speaking, an artist will always present this point of view. However in most cases, it's an incomplete and wildly immature handling of the topic. This film addresses if you can believe it, the folly of avoiding War thru appeasement, and hammers home what might have been avoided if the British had called Hitler to the carpet early on, instead of playing chess with him. This is the backdrop; the main story is that of the butler, Stevens, an ostensibly simple character played with unimaginable complexity, by Hopkins. The fascinating examination of one man's sense of duty, a devotion that transcends all other obligations and aspirations in his life has never been so poignantly or expertly presented to an audience. Everything about the film, the supporting cast in particular is a rousing triumph. I cannot overly recommend this.