Quick takes on The Remains of the Day and other Merchant Ivory films

I recently got a bug to visit more films from the Merchant Ivory team, from the late 80s and early 90s. At this time, the production company was churning out films, and while James Ivory had directed the vast majority of this team’s movies to this point, they now turned to others for a few productions. Based on a book producer Ismail Merchant had previously read, The Deceivers was directed by Nicholas Meyer and stars a young pre-Bond Pierce Brosnan. Supposedly based on a true story, it takes place in 1825 in India, and is about the uncovering of a local cult who has been robbing and murdering for years. Captain William Savage is a young idealist officer in the East India Company who will not ignore what is going on around him, even when ordered to do so. He goes undercover to join the cult, and ends up doing some awful thing while with them, before he is able to bring them down in the end. The movie is a lot like your typical 80s cop films, albeit in a much different setting obviously. The film received fairly poor reviews when it came out in 1988, but honestly I didn’t think it was horrible. The story isn’t new, but there’s good action, well developed characters, and I was wrapped up in the telling of the tale. What more could you ask? ★★½

The Perfect Murder was released the same year. Directed by Zafar Hai and starring a young Stellan Skarsgård (in only his second English language film I believe), this one is sort of a comedy murder whodunit. You know you are in for some cheesy jokes right from the beginning when “perfect murder” isn’t a murder at all, but an attack, and “perfect” applies only because the victim’s name is Mr Perfect. Perfect is a rich man’s secretary, and the wealthy boss is all over the police to find who attacked his man (and he insists in calling it a murder, since that was obviously the intent). The local police in India bring in a crime forensics expert from Sweden, and supposed hilarity ensues. Supposed because you won’t laugh as much as they want you do. Lots of dad jokes and a mildly interesting murder plot can only take you so far. ★★

James Ivory came back to direct Mr & Mrs Bridge, and with him (and an all-star cast), they righted this ship for me. This is a wonderful portrait of a family in upper middle class Kansas City in the 1930s and 40s. Walter Gene Bridge is a rags to riches lawyer, who came from a humble background to build a successful firm. He’s been married for all of his adult life to India Bridge, and together, they’ve raised 2 daughters and a son. Though they didn’t come from money, the parents share old school values, which are at odds with their increasingly worldly kids, especially the wild eldest daughter. Between the parents is a bit of a rift as well; Walter is all business all the time, and India, as she sees her kids falling in love, and friends sharing tales of love and life, she realizes that her and Walter have little romance in their life anymore. This isn’t a hard-hitting film; it is a subtle piece about changing times, changing relationships, and the changing of the individual. The two leads are Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, with supporting roles from Kyra Sedgwick, Simon Callow, Blythe Danner, and Robert Sean Leonard, one year removed from his breakout role in Dead Poets Society. Newman and, in particular, Woodward shine, as you’d expect. ★★★★

Fresh off acting in the above film, Simon Callow took the director’s chair for The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, which remains his only directed film to this day. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave as Miss Amelia, a country girl who runs an empty cafe in a tiny town in Georgia. She makes moonshine outside the town where no one can see her operation, and brings it in to sell to workers at the end of the day, which seems to be her only source of income. Amelia is despondent about her life until Lymon shows up. Lymon is a stunted man with a hunchback, and claims to be a distant relation. Despite his physical impairments, he is full of energy and always cheery, and his relentless energy naturally buoys Amelia and makes him popular to the townsfolk. He gets her to clean up the cafe and start serving booze by the glass, as well as food for families. It becomes an instant success. This newfound boon is put in danger when Amelia’s no-good ex-husband (Keith Carradine), who’s been away serving time in jail, shows up wanting to put Amelia in her place, after she mistreated him during their short time together. The movie has some quirky, funny moments in the first half or so, but is otherwise a hot mess. Some weird twists and turns, and you never get any kind of idea of what makes the three main characters tick. The finale is a clusterfuck that makes absolutely no sense. Redgrave gives it her all, but the talent is wasted here. ★½

The Remains of the Day is the most celebrated film out of today’s batch, receiving 8 Oscar nominations when it was released in 1993 (including Best Actor/Actress for Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, best director for Ivory, and Best Picture; many had been nominated/won the previous year for Ivory’s Howards End). The movie takes place in both the late 50s and, in flashbacks, the mid to late 30s. In the former, Mr Stevens is head butler to an American, Jack Lewis, who lives at the vast Darlington Estate. Lewis recently purchased the estate and saved it from the wrecking ball, as the property had been sitting vacant due to a sordid past. The past, as we soon learn, involved the former Lord Darlington, and Stevens original employer. Lord Darlington had some German friends before the war, and went out of his way to broker peace between Germany, France, and England, with many dignitaries from all those countries visiting Darlington. After the war, Darlington was accused of treason, leading to the house’s current predicament. Stevens oversaw everything as the head butler, and he often butted heads with the head housekeeper, Ms Kenton. It is this relationship that is front and center to the film. They clash a lot in the early going when Ms Kenton is hired, but often only because they each have the best intentions over the welfare and upkeep of the estate. In the later timeline, Stevens is on his way to see Kenton, years after she left Darlington, in hopes of bringing her back on board. This is not a film for the average moviegoer, as while on the surface not much happens, the devil is in the details as they say. The wordplay, the glances, and the inner turmoil of our characters are what drives this movie, and it is wonderfully acted by the leads. Ultimately nothing happens as you’d expect, and sometimes those make the most memorable films. ★★★½

• TV series currently watching: Supergirl (season 6)
• Book currently reading: Boundless by RA Salvatore