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The Remains of the Day (1993,
UK)
In producer Ismail Merchant's and director James Ivory's
psychological drama (adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro's 1988 novel) about
a proper, rigidly-formal English butler - an insightful look at love
and loss between an emotionally closed-off 'perfect' servant and
his long-time co-worker/housekeeper:
- in the film's opening set in post-war 1958 Britain:
retired American millionaire and former Congressman Jack Lewis
(Christopher Reeve) acquired a mansion in the English countryside
known as Darlington Hall; he had purchased the Oxfordshire estate
(from the deceased Earl of Darlington) at auction and saved it
from being demolished; he also took over the employment of Mr.
James Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), Darlington's aging, devoted and
noble British butler with carefully-cultivated methods and strict
behaviors
- the opening scene of Stevens' receipt of a letter
(heard in voice-over) from former housekeeper Mrs. Sarah "Sally"
Benn/Kenton (Emma Thompson), who lived in a boarding house in Clevedon;
Stevens and Sally had worked as colleagues over 20 years earlier ("in
the good old days") in Darlington Hall ("I remember those
years with you as among the happiest of my life"); she wrote that
she was in an unhappy marriage and had left her husband Tom Benn (Tim
Pigott-Smith) for the second time
- the scene of Stevens' 1958 drive (in Lewis' 1937 Daimler),
on his holiday, to the west country and the town of Clevedon to meet
up with "Sally" Benn/Kenton (although divorced) - whom
he thought might be persuaded into becoming Darlington Hall's housekeeper
once again
- the film's major flashback to 20 years earlier in
the mid-to-late 1930s, when Lord Darlington (James Fox) (aka the
Earl of Darlington) presided over the massive bustling estate – the
ultra-efficient Stevens was responsible for hiring a new housekeeper
and under-butler (two vacated positions after staffers eloped); during
an interview with youthful Miss Kenton, Stevens asserted that housekeepers
should not be involved in romantic relationships with other staff
members ("What I do find a major irritation are those persons
who are simply going from post to post looking for romance");
he also hired his own aging father William Stevens (Peter Vaughan)
as the under-butler (with 54 years experience)
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Miss Kenton's Original Interview to Become Housekeeper
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Mr. William Stevens, Sr.
- Hired as Under-Butler
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- the two prime examples of Stevens' pedantry - he
reprimanded Miss Kenton for placing a freshly-picked bouquet of
flowers in his private office as a "distraction", and
for inappropriately addressing his father as "William" rather
than as "Mr. Stevens, Sr."
- the growing revelation, pointed out by Miss Kenton
to the stubborn Stevens, that his elderly 75 year-old father William
was becoming incompetent and physically unable to handle all of his
duties (growing tired, he absent-mindedly left a dustpan and broom
on the stairs landing, misplaced a "chinaman" statue, and
tripped and fell on an outdoor terrace while delivering a tray of
tea) - eventually leading to his demotion and reduction of duties
- the sequence of misguided, well-meaning and callow
Lord Darlington's 1935 hosting of an "international conference" of
fascist-sympathisizing British and European politicians and aristocrats
(to assist fascist, Nazi-led Germany) - including US delegate Lewis;
on the conference's last evening, Lewis rose and sternly spoke to
the other attendees - arguing in favor of foreign affairs and policy
conducted not by noble "gentlemen amateurs"
but by political "professionals"
- when notified during dinner that Stevens' seriously-ill
father had suddenly died after a severe stroke, the dignified Stevens
steadfastly maintained his dutiful profession without emotion and
refused to immediately visit his father's bedside - instead, he insisted
on carrying on with his work: ("I'm very busy at the moment,
Miss Kenton, in a little while perhaps")
- after the death of Mr. Stevens, Lord Darlington, in
keeping with Jewish racial laws, suddenly requested that two newly-appointed
German-Jewish maids (Elsa (Emma Lewis) and Irma (Joanna Joseph)),
both refugees, could not remain hired and regrettably had to be dismissed;
Stevens did not resign in protest ("His lordship has made his
decision. There is nothing for you and I to discuss...It is out of
our hands!") although Miss Kenton expressed her horror and threatened
to leave: ("If you dismiss my girls tomorrow, it will be wrong,
a sin!...Mr. Stevens, I warn you, if those girls go, I shall leave
this house"); however, she remained: "I'm not leaving,
I have no family. I'm a coward...I'm frightened of leaving and that's
the truth"; however, months later, he mentioned he felt bad
about their dismissal (as did the regretful Darlington), to the exasperated
Miss Kenton, who remarked: "Why didn't you tell me so at the
time? It would have helped me a great deal if I'd known you felt
the same way as I did....Why do you always have to hide what you
feel?"
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Two German-Jewish Maids
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"If those girls go, I shall leave this house"
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Stevens Acquiescent to Darlington's Wishes
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- the scene of Stevens remaining neutral and apolitical
during later meetings with Nazi leaders at Darlington - even when
asked by one of the attendees, Tom Benn, to give his opinion about
their pro-Nazi conversations (that eventually led to appeasement
and war with Germany); Stevens turned a blind eye to the treasonous
and gullible Darlington's duping by Nazi rhetoric: ("I hear
nothing, Mr. Benn...To listen to the gentlemen's conversations
would distract me from my work"); later when grilled by other
visitors to Darlington to give his personal political opinion on
various issues, Stevens kept insisting he was uninvolved: "I
am unable to be of assistance in this matter"
- the scene of Miss Kenton's realization that Stevens
actually liked to have pretty girls working on the housemaid staff,
although he would never admit it - she teased: "You don't like
having pretty girls on the staff, I've noticed. Might it be that
our Mr. Stevens fears distraction? Can it be that our Mr. Stevens
is flesh and blood after all and cannot trust himself?"; he
replied:
"You know what I'm doing, Miss Kenton? I'm placing my thoughts
elsewhere while you chatter away" - and she continued: "Then
why is that guilty smile still on your face?"
- the touching scene in which rigidly polite and repressed
British butler Stevens was reluctant to reveal the book he was reading
in the dark in his "private time" to flirtatious housekeeper
Miss Kenton; with a look of rapt longing and desire on her face,
she asked: ("Is it racy?...Are you reading a racy book?...What
is it? Let me see it. Let me see your book....Why won't you show
me your book?... What's in that book? Come on, let me see. Or are
you protecting me? Is that what you're doing? Would I be shocked?
Would it ruin my character? Let me see it"); she realized it
wasn't "scandalous" at all but only "a sentimental
old love story"; he admitted embarrassingly that he liked romance
novels - in order to improve his English skills: ("I read these
books, any books, to develop my command and knowledge of the English
language. I read to further my education, Miss Kenton")
- the striking scene in which Miss Kenton informed Stevens
about her engagement-marriage to ex-co-worker Tom Benn, meaning she
would probably be compelled to move away; Stevens reacted cooly without
any emotion and only congratulated her after prompting: ("You
have my warmest congratulations") - although he had been keeping
his feelings hidden for Miss Kenton for over 20 years; later, he
overheard her crying in frustration over his reaction of repressed
coldness and his statement that he couldn't listen to her "idle
talk"; he interrupted her with an insensitive reminder about
an area of the house that needed dusting
- the (present) sequence of Stevens' reunion over tea
with Miss Kenton, when they reminisced about Lord Darlington and
their work together - and implicitly and regretfully referenced so
many lost opportunities between them; it was a scene of urgent, but
unfulfilled and repressed longing and emotional love between Miss
Kenton and Stevens; she admitted she had made mistakes in her life;
however, she declined his invitation to return with him to work at
Darlington Hall - she claimed she had just been notified that her
daughter Catherine was pregnant, and that she needed to be reconciled
with her estranged husband to assist with their grandchild
- they walked to a pier as the sun set and sat together
on a bench, as she reacted to how people cheered when the lights
came on: ("People always cheer when they turn the lights on
in the evening, every time...they do say that for a great many people,
the evening is the best part of the day - the part to most look forward
to"), but all Stevens' could look forward to was getting back
to Darlington Hall and hiring new staff
- in the final few moments of their time together,
he drove her to a bus stop in a rainstorm - Stevens wished her well
in the future: ("You must take good care of yourself, Mrs. Benn...You
must try to do all you can to make these years happy ones for yourself
and for your husband. We may never meet again, Mrs. Benn. That is
why I am permitting myself to be so personal, if you will forgive
me"); when she was about to depart on the bus and leave from
him forever (with tears in her eyes), they shared a lingering handshake;
Stevens tipped his hat to her under his umbrella as the bus pulled
away and she waved back
- Stevens finally showed an outward emotion of regret
when he let himself cry afterwards in his car; the splattering raindrops
on the windshield obscured his own tears
Parting Scene
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Bus Stop Goodbye
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Last Look
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Goodbye Handshake
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Heartfelt Farewell - As Bus Pulled Away
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Stevens Tipped His Hat Under His Umbrella
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Stevens' Tears
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- in the conclusion, upon Stevens' return to Darlington
Hall, Congressman Lewis asked Stevens if he remembered the old
days (specifically a banquet in 1935); Stevens replied that he
didn't because he was too busy in his servant role ("I was
too busy serving to listen to the speeches"); the two helped
to free a trapped pigeon in Darlington Hall who had flown in through
the chimney; without much of Stevens' assistance, Lewis caught
the bird and allowed it to escape through a window
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Congressman Jack Lewis Acquiring Darlington Hall at Auction
In 1958: Butler Mr. James Stevens (Anthony Hopkins)
Darlington Hall - 1936
Lord Darlington (James Fox)
Miss Kenton's Bouquet of Flowers Called a "Distraction"
by Stevens
Elderly Mr. Stevens' Absentmindedness
Often Butting Heads Together
1935 Conference Dignitary Lewis' Argument in Favor
of "Professionals" Conducting Foreign Affairs
Stevens: "I'm Very Busy at the Moment" -
During His Father's Death
Miss Kenton 'Chattering Away' While Stevens Had
a Guilty Smile on His Face
Miss Kenton Finding Stevens Reading a "Racy
Book"
Miss Kenton Informing Stevens of Her Impending Marriage
Stevens' Cold Reaction: "You have my warmest
congratulations"
Miss Kenton Crying While Told About Dusting
Reunited After 20 Years - Having Tea
At the Pier
Released Pigeon
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