(1993)
directed by James Ivory
“The Remains of the Day” recreates the beautiful, rarified world of Darlington Hall, a grand English manor house. Darlington Hall is a world of manicured lawns, polished furniture, and gleaming silver. When Mr. Lewis, a wealthy American, purchases Darlington Hall, he tells Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), the head butler who has served there for over thirty years, to take a vacation. Stevens has learned in a letter that Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), who left her job as head of housekeeping years ago to marry, is estranged from her husband. Stevens decides to spend his vacation traveling by car to visit Miss Kenton in order to find out if she would be interested in resuming her position as housekeeper at Darlington Hall.
On his way to visit Miss Kenton, Stevens recalls his years of service at Darlington Hall. The film tells the story of Stevens’ career in a series of flashbacks. His entire working life was consumed by his efforts to be a “great” butler. He looks back with pride to an important conference arranged by Lord Darlington to convince a group of distinguished envoys to ease the harsh post World War I economic penalties on Germany. While those great figures discussed international affairs, it was Stevens’ responsibility to keep Darlington Hall running smoothly.
Stevens’ single minded devotion to duty blinds him to the attentions of Miss Kenton. Shortly after he hires her, she brings flowers to his room to brighten things up. He criticizes her for intruding on his privacy. Another time she catches him off guard reading a romance novel. He tells her he is only reading the novel to improve his vocabulary. All of her attempts to reach out to him are rejected. Anthony Hopkins is superb as the emotionally reserved Stevens. Emma Thompson is equally superb as the high-spirited Miss Kenton.
Miss Kenton is incensed when Stevens carries out Lord Darlington’s instructions and orders her to fire two German maids who are Jewish. She expects him to protest this act of prejudice. Stevens, however, defers to Lord Darlington. When a friend of Miss Kenton proposes marriage, she accepts, giving up on Stevens once and for all.
Stevens’ visit with Miss Kenton all these years later is heartbreaking. The moment they meet, we can see that she still loves him. Her life is joined to another, however, and a relationship with Stevens is impossible. “The Remains of the Day” is a warning to those who would put their emotional lives on hold in order to devote themselves to their careers. Stevens realizes that he has thrown away his chance for love in the name of duty.
“The Remains of the Day” is a flawless screen adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s award-winning novel. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan but moved to England with his parents at the age of five. In an interview, when discussing his Japanese heritage and its influence on his upbringing, he said, “I’m not entirely like English people because I’ve been brought up by Japanese parents in a Japanese speaking home. My parents felt responsible for keeping me in touch with Japanese values. I do have a distinct background. I think differently, my perspectives are slightly different.”
Ishiguro describes himself as a “serious cinephile” and has said that Japanese films, especially those of Yasujiro Ozu, have been a significant influence on his writing. When Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer “who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”