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The Remains of the Day (Special Edition)Rating:
Release Date: 06 November, 2001 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $18.97 You SAVE: $10.98! Cast: Complete Cast (8 total) |
The Remains of the Day (Special Edition) Reviews
Really Mr. Stevens? There's nothing that can be done to help those girls?
Ishiguro said "I intended the story to be one that could take off quite easily into the metaphorical sphere, so that people could actually apply it to their own lives . . . I wanted it to be universal, human story . . . If I was writing a how to book on how to waste your life, the English butler idea encapsulated two good, decent ways in which you could waste your life. One was emotionally, and the other was politically." John Calley, the producer, said, "We were just dazzled by the possibilities of dramatizing missed chances, lost opportunities - the things that were all victim of inappropriate allegiances that lead to a finally disappointing conclusion."
In the DVD featurette, Ishiguro asks: What would we do if we were caught up in an era where there were calls for universal military service, suppression of free speech, military aggression against foreign nations, & discrimination against "lesser" races? Set in pre WW II, the story looks at the ethics of national safety & civil liberties. I don't think this is a pacifist film. It appears to be more anti-appeasement. It encourages people to be politically and personally involved. I don't think Ishiguro wants people to be unopinionated, non-vocal, servile, & dutiful butlers who neither develop educated opinions nor express them in times of great need & conflict.
Ishiguro suggests in the featurette that the Nazis took advantage of certain high ranking English officials' gentlemanly and honorable ideals to keep them quiet, agreeable, and non-confrontive while Germany's actions killed millions of Jews and other "lesser" races under the misused banners of loyalty, honor, & peace.
In another scene, the housekeeper asks Mr. Stevens why does he not help the hard working and kind Jewish servant girls who are being unfairly discharged during a time of war and Jewish persecution? His response is always to defer to his master and the popular social pressures, so he says, "It's out of our hands." He makes no attempts to seek information to come to their aid, and he seeks no interventive path that might create conflict within his social hierarchy.
If Spielberg's Munich lays out a convincing argument that violent response usually begets more violence, Ishiguro's Remains & Spielberg's Schindler's List & Saving Private Ryan ask: Did responsive violence prevent even more loss of life? The lesser of two evils? "Remains" is about failed diplomatic methods. It is a film that encourages finding better diplomatic methods.
Watching Remains, there are so many personal and political "inactive" decisions that lead to tragedies that listing them here would be impractical.
Under the definitions of that era, Stevens was an ideal, deferential butler, dutifully allowing others to ultimately choose his actions. We can all watch him and think we would take an unpopular stance to assist others, but it's far more complicated & difficult with real relationships, work pressures, and public pressures.
Stevens: "You are extremely important to this house, Miss Kenton"
Miss Kenton: "Am I?"
Miss Kenton: "What's in that book? C'mon let me see. Or are you protecting me? Is that what you are doing? Would it ruin my character? Let me see it . . . oh dear, it's not scandalous at all . . . it's just a sentimental old love story."
There are a many good, decent reasons why the housekeeper turns the tables on Mr. Stevens in the end when he travels to visit her. She extincts his inquiries, changes the subject, & focuses on small talk. Ishiguro allows the reader to decide whether or not to be frustrated with both of them for their choices. He wants us to view & examine people who are focused on following the personal prohibitions they were taught ("You've got to be carefully taught").
And a question Ishiguro asks may be implied in his book title. Will maintaining & repeating the patterns of the past likely change the cycle of results? Or can anything better be done in the remains of the day? The Remains of The Day.
To be silent or to take a stand?
Ishiguro said "I intended the story to be one that could take off quite easily into the metaphorical sphere, so that people could actually apply it to their own lives . . . I wanted it to be universal, human story . . . If I was writing a how to book on how to waste your life, the English butler idea encapsulated two good, decent ways in which you could waste your life. One was emotionally, and the other was politically." John Calley, the producer, said, "We were just dazzled by the possibilities of dramatizing missed chances, lost opportunities - the things that were all victim of inappropriate allegiances that lead to a finally disappointing conclusion."
In the DVD featurette, Ishiguro asks: What would we do if we were caught up in an era where there were calls for universal military service, suppression of free speech, military aggression against foreign nations, & discrimination against "lesser" races? Set in pre WW II, the story looks at the ethics of national safety & civil liberties. I don't think this is a pacifist film. It appears to be more anti-appeasement. It encourages people to be politically and personally involved. I don't think Ishiguro wants people to be unopinionated, non-vocal, servile, & dutiful butlers who neither develop educated opinions nor express them in times of great need & conflict.
Ishiguro suggests in the featurette that the Nazis took advantage of certain high ranking English officials' gentlemanly and honorable ideals to keep them agreeable and non-confrontive while Germany's actions killed millions of Jews and other "lesser" races under the misused banners of loyalty, honor, & peace.
If Spielberg's Munich lays out a convincing argument that violent response usually begets more violence, Ishiguro's Remains & Spielberg's Schindler's List & Saving Private Ryan ask: Did responsive violence prevent even more loss of life? The lesser of two evils? "Remains" is about failed diplomatic methods. It is a film that encourages finding better diplomatic methods.
Watching Remains, there are so many personal and political "inactive" decisions that lead to tragedies that listing them here would be impractical.
Stevens: "You are extremely important to this house, Miss Kenton"
Miss Kenton: "Am I?"
Miss Kenton: "What's in that book? C'mon let me see. Or are you protecting me? Is that what you are doing? Would it ruin my character? Let me see it . . . oh dear, it's not scandalous at all . . . it's just a sentimental old love story."
The tragedy is not that Stevens was a poor butler. Under the definitions of that era, he was an ideal butler. We can all watch him and think we would take a stand, but it's far more complicated and difficult with real relationships and real public pressures.
Buy, borrow, or bypass: Buy
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