The Remains of the Day [Blu-ray]

Director: James Ivory James Ivory

Overview

Filmed with the usual meticulous attention to period and detail of films from Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, The Remains of the Day is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Anthony Hopkins plays Stevens, the "perfect" butler to a prosperous British household of the 1930s. He is so unswervingly devoted to serving his master, a well-meaning but callow British lord (James Fox), that he shuts himself off from all emotions and familial relationships. New housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) tries to warm him up and awaken his humanity. But when duty calls, Stevens won't even attend his own dying father's last moments on earth. The butler also refuses to acknowledge the fact that his master is showing signs of pro-Nazi sentiments. Disillusioned by Hitler's duplicity, the master dies an embittered man, and only then does Stevens come to realize how his own silence has helped bring about this sad situation. Years later, regretting his lost opportunities in life, he tries once more to make contact with Miss Kenton, the only person who'd ever cared enough to seek out the human being inside the butler's cold veneer.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/17/2019
UPC:	0043396564619
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	PG
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:14:00
Sales rank:	25,821

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Director James Ivory, Producer Ismail Merchant and Actress Emma Thompson; Love and loyalty: The making of The Remains of the Day Featurette; The Remains of the Day: The Filmmakers' Journey featurette; Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's fatal flaw featurette; Deleted scenes with Optional Commentary ; Theatrical Trailer; International trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Anthony Hopkins	Stevens,Actor
Emma Thompson	Miss Kenton
Christopher Reeve	Lewis
James Fox	Lord Darlington,Actor
Peter Vaughan	Father
Hugh Grant	Cardinal
Tim Pigott-Smith	Benn
Patrick Godfrey	Spencer
Michel Lonsdale	Dupont D'Ivry,Dupont D'Ivry
John Haycraft	Auctioneer
Caroline Hunt	Landlady
Paula Jacobs	Mrs. Mortimer the Cook
Ben Chaplin	Charlie, Head Footman
Steve Dibben	George,- 2nd Footman
Abigail Harrison	Housemaid
Peter Cellier	Sir Leonard Bax
Peter Halliday	Canon Tufnell
Terence Bayler	Trimmer
Jeffrey Wickham	Viscount Bigge,Viscount Bigge
Hugh Sweetman	Scullery Boy
Brigitte Kahn	Baroness
John Savident	Doctor Meredith
Tony Aitken	Postmaster
Emma Lewis	Elsa
Joanna Joseph	Irma
Rupert Vansittart	Sir Geoffrey Wren
Christopher Brown	Wren's Friend
Lena Headey	Lizzie
Paul Copley	Harry Smith
Ian Redford	Publican
Jo Kendall	Publican's Wife
Steven Beard	Andrews
Pip Torrens	Doctor Carlisle
Frank Shelley	Prime Minister
Peter Eyre	Lord Halifax
Jestyn Phillips	Foreign Office Official
Wolf Kahler	German Ambassador
Frank Holtje	German Embassy Official
Andreas Tons	German Embassy Official
Roger McKern	Police Constable
Angela Newmarch	Waitress
Richard Robbins	Composer

Technical Credits

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Kazuo Ishiguro

Harold Pinter

James Ivory	Director
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala	Screenwriter
Paul Bradley	Executive Producer,Producer
John Calley	Producer
Ismail Merchant	Producer
Mike Nichols	Producer
Celestia Fox	Casting
Karin Hanson	Special Effects
Aaron Anawalt	Sound Effects
Kazuo Ishiguro	Screenwriter
Harold Pinter	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

While somewhat overshadowed by the box-office performance of Howards End (1992), The Remains of the Day received nine Academy Award nominations and finds Merchant and Ivory at the top of their game. On the eve of World War II, almost everyone in The Remains of the Day seems committed to tired traditions that adhere to a rigid formality. Anthony Hopkins masterfully portrays Stevens' proper exterior, communicating the butler's emotional sterility in "real life" situations through small gestures. Emma Thompson beautifully plays Miss Kenton and once again proves the ideal partner for Hopkins. Their failed relationship (failed because it never even gets started) perfectly underlines the regret that saturates The Remains of the Day. The deeper tragedy, however, lies in the fact that Stevens, Miss Kenton, and Lord Darlington (James Fox) all become conscious of the mistakes they have made, but seem incapable of altering their way of life. Social adherence to tradition and class distinctions has led to an inability to adapt to the modern world. The Remains of the Day displays the same close attention to period detail and lovely cinematography that viewers have come to expect from Merchant and Ivory productions, and the screenplay has once again been adapted by the sure hand of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.