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chrismjordan
Reviews
The Remains of the Day (1993)
I've seen this more than 15 times, and it never disappoints
Following re-watching Silence of the Lambs a week or two back, just finished Remains of the Day for at least the 15th time. How can one man deliver two performances so brilliant and so different less than 2 years apart? Other films come and go from my top 5, but RotD has been in my top 2 since the first time I saw it more than 20 years ago (1 and 2 switch about).
Anthony Hopkins' performance is, in my opinion, the best piece of acting I've ever seen. Not just words - I've truly never seen better. Repression and dignity personified, tragic, complex and totally convincing. The story spans more than 30 years, but with no obvious prosthetics they age in front of your eyes with a change in facial expression and a different posture, gait or outfit. In fact there is not a bum note in the whole thing - performance, story, authenticity, emotions, realism.
The rest of the cast are almost as perfect; from the ******** posh idiots (the scene where they 'prove' that politics is beyond the wit of the common man is awful but brilliant) and the famous faces; Emma Thompson (I'm more than a little in love with her here), Hugh Grant (funny, sharp-minded and charming), Edward Fox (the benchmark for posh but well meaning and so easily led due to basic morality), Peter Vaughn (dying old man, again!), Lena Headey (so different from Game of Thrones), Christopher Reeve (always great to see him doing more than Superman and sad to remember who he was before the accident). Such a recognisable crowd, but within seconds you forget the famous faces and just believe the story.
And as a bonus it features 2 pubs I used to drink in as a youngster and parts are filmed in a village I grew up near and had friends living just up the road. I remember when I was at school people were excited about it and there were rumours locals would be cast - all ******** of course. Makes it even more interesting, to me at least.
The whole thing is amazing. I'll be back to it again and again.
Housewife, 49 (2005)
A study in repression, and a great war film
I returned to this after the recent death of Victoria Wood because I remembered seeing it a few years ago and being hugely impressed.
I wasn't wrong. This lovely film is four things: It's a lovely piece of writing, the sign of a true talent who could be hilarious, but also always understood humanity in all it's forms.
It's a performance from VW which shows that she was a great 'serious' actress. She lives this character, and you don't doubt from the start to the end that she is Nella Last, even though her face is so familiar. I just wish she'd had time to do more serious acting.
It's a hugely impressive period drama. The settings and dressings and street scenes are perfect, and as good a film about WW2 as I've seen, even though you don't see a single gun or bullet fired. In fact, I don't remember many films told from the home front anyway, and this has to be one of the best.
And finally, it's an amazing performance from David Threlfall. I don't think I've seen a study in repression this perfect (and perfectly awful) since Anthony Hopkins in the Remains of the Day - and that's high praise... It's impossible to place him as the same man from Shameless.
I had a lump in my throat from the 5 minutes in, and it didn't go away until the end. Tragic, but in a beautiful way. You get a very real sense of what it was like for the people left behind in the war, with bombs dropping on the streets around you, and telegrams full of the worst possible news about loved ones only a door knock away.
The human drama was also amazing. 2 high points: The scene where her husband asks for a dance was such a paradox, it's amazing that he's trying for her, but clear that he's a million miles away from being Mr Right for the newly empowered Nella. And 5 minutes later he's burning her beloved chicken coop as another 'frivolity'.
The scene where her son struggles to explain why he's been so distant and angry, and she just cannot grasp it - the idea of him being gay just doesn't enter her head, even though the viewer cannot be in any doubt. It's easy to get frustrated with her inability to see what's in front of her, or to break away from her oppressive relationship - but that's just what people were like then....
Finally, the ending. Having grown over 90 minutes to care for the character and her difficult life in a way it'd be great to see her striking out and becoming independent. But that would be unrealistic (and not true), so it's perfect (and the saddest thing of all) that even after her 'awakening', she stays at home and lives out the rest of her days, watching the fireworks through a window while other people have a real life outside.
Amazing. What a talent VW was. What a loss.