Director: James Ivory

Writer: Kazuo Ishiguro (novel), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Christopher Reeve, James Fox, Ben Chaplin, Hugh Grant, William Stevens, Michael Lonsdale

Synopsis: The Remains of the Day is one of Merchant-Ivory's most thought-provoking films. Anthony Hopkins is a model of restraint and propriety as Stevens, the butler who "knows his place"; Emma Thompson is the animated and sympathetic Miss Kenton, the housekeeper whose attraction to Stevens is doomed to disappointment.

As Nazi appeaser Lord Darlington (James Fox) clings to the notion of a gentleman's agreement in the ruthless political climate before World War Two. Hugh Grant is his journalist nephew all too aware of reality, while Christopher Reeve gives a spirited portrayal of an American senator, whose purchase of Darlington Hall 20 years on sends Stevens on a journey to right the mistake he made out of loyalty. As a period drama with an ever-relevant message, this film is absorbing viewing all the way.

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