"The Remains of the Day" (1993) -- Initial Thoughts

I watched The Remains of the Day (1993) for the first time this week. And also the last time.

My family and I adore the remake of Sabrina (1995) and have watched it a zillion times. At one point, Sabrina's chauffeur father says to another servant, "Have you been watching Remains of the Day again?" when she brings him some tea on a tray with a vase of flowers. So I've always wanted to see this movie.

And I get the Sabrina line now, because Emma Thompson's housekeeper character keeps bringing Anthony Hopkins' butler character fresh flowers. So I'm glad I saw this movie for that reason.

But what a depressing movie! It has a completely unsatisfactory ending. I know they're making a point about not speaking up for yourself, not letting your feelings show, yadda yadda yadda. But did they have to do it in such a bleak way? Sigh.

Also, I kept expecting to find out that the butler was a secret agent, that those little Chinamen figurines had microphones and recording devices in them or something. And none of that happened. So that also disappointed me.

But I'm getting fonder of Emma Thompson. In fact, at the library today I wanted to get either Howard's End or Sense and Sensibility, but neither of them were there. Grr.