spence Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 I saw the other night where TCM was re-airing 1993's "The Remains of the Day" ($23m.) Now I personally don't really enjoy costume flix, but always found this film utterly perfect & especially in regards to *Anthony Hopkins superbly controlled work as Mr. Stevens!!! Merchant/Ivory are well known for the duo's costume films ("A Room With a View" "Howard's End") but never took home *Oscar Gold & this 9 time contender had to go up against *"Schindler's List" that year. & the music score by *Richard Rogers is also sheer perfection! I'd even rank his performance as ne of the finest I've ever seen by an actor Who agrees? & I THANK YOU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffite Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I like it too. SPOILERS What do you think Stevens would have said if Miss Kenton, on the floor crying, had asked him, "Aern't you going to ask me why I am crying?" We know Stevens too well, well, Miss Kenton, we all have our problems, far be it for me to delve into personal matters, these things pass with time and soon everything will all right, surely. Good night, Miss Kenton. Leaving and softly closing the door. When he catches up with (no longer Miss Kenton) when the train is about to leave, suppose he would have said "Well, have a nice trip. Come and see me sometime. You know, [looking away and fidgeting slightly] I should add with your permission,well .. I love you now and I loved you then, I think I made a terrible mistake, but ..., what do you think she would have said or done. Of course that's a very anti-Stevens thing to say but that would be the point, a last chance at happiness making him stepping outside of himself. We know from the painful expression on her face as train pulled away that she was remembering well and feeling the poignancy of it all already. That would have made it a different movie and the heart-rending theme of not being able to change the past would be lost. I'm guessing Woody Allen might like this movie, he makes this idea of missed opportunities sound like personal tragedies, a modern angst. Care to give it shot? What would have she said and how would the movie end? Those who attracted to happy endings might have some good ideas. But not to sappy, please. An ending commensurate with all that went on before, with a similar tone and bearing. ----- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Spence, I think The Remains of the Day is one of the best films of the 90s. Anthony Hopkins is great. A really heart-breaking film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Laffite, you might be interested to know that a alternate ending to the film was shot in which Stevens has something of an emotional breakdown while speaking to a stranger, as he enumerates aloud his regrets over the things the barriers he erected around himself have cost him. There's a whole discussion about it on the film's imdb page, and the scene in question is available on YouTube, or at least it used to be. I've never watched it, because I like the movie so much as is. Apparently, Hopkins insisted the scene be shot, and a number of posters at imdb say he's great in it. But Merchant and Ivory, while indulging his request, never much cared for overtly emotional scenes, as is obvious to anyone who's watched a few of their films, and didn't use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffite Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Interesting ... I didn't know that. What I wrote earlier, ... "An ending commensurate with all that went on before, with a similar tone and bearing" at least in part mirrors their own sentiments, at least about emotional scenes. I'm sure they did the right thing by not allowing that scene, not only because of their reluctance to do overly emotional scenes but for sustaining the original story line. I'm disinclined to search for the scene you mention and for the same reasons as you. There is a scene in Amadeus, which IS shown on some versions, where Salieri hits on Mozart's wife and from what I'm told in a particularly salacious manner. I haven't seen that and I don't think I want to, not for prudish reasons but because I like the film the way it is and I like Salieri the way he is as brilliantly portrayed by F.Murray Abraham. Salieri was devout about music and even came to respect Mozart in time. He had always been blown over by Mozart's music and somehow such a scene diminishes all that. Emma Thomson is sheer delight. So fresh-faced and beautiful with that period hair style as well as that mischievous way she prods Stevens at certain times, like that what-are-you-reading scene. I was recently extolling the virtues of Kate Winslet on another thread as being unfailing flawless in just anything she does on screen, and I think the same of Emma. Thanks, sewhite. .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikisoo Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I'm still searching for a REMAINS OF THE DAY lunchbox Nigel Tufnel had in the 2nd Spiñal Tap movie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenBaby2 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I'm still searching for a REMAINS OF THE DAY lunchbox Nigel Tufnel had in the 2nd Spiñal Tap movie! Wasn't that Corky St. Clair in Waiting for Guffman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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