Stevens is an exemplary English butler who has spent his life on an ancient estate. He has given his heart to selfless service, and there is nothing that can make him betray his duty. Suddenly the usual course of days is disrupted when a new housekeeper, Miss Kenton, shows up at the manor.
Stevens tries to hide his deep feelings for this woman, but neither centuries of tradition nor sacred duties can stop the love that has flared up. It is only now, at the end of his days, that the devoted butler has discovered the one ideal worthy of true service…
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Having replaced the awe of a virtual pioneer with the confident determination of a graphomaniacal cinephile, I begin my attempt to write another review of another film. With the only caveat that, oddly enough, until now the film’s page on the ‘Russian imdb’ has not been spoiled by the audience’s opinion, and therefore it is about my next review. Well, and the subject of attention itself can not at all be called ‘ordinary’ in the sense of usual, passable, not memorable. I’ll try not to earn such labels and to my commentary.
Perhaps I will not retell the plot, but in passing I will note that the synopsis attached to the licensed Russian edition, though close to the truth, but straightforward and unsophisticated to the point. Though it is not an easy task to convey in dry words all half-tones and shades of the cinematographic artwork.
To call ‘At the End of the Day’ a simple love story in a complicated environment is, to say the least, a ridiculous delusion. The film is more than that. It is subtler and deeper. There is an understatement and a luminous sadness about the past that reigns supreme here.
But let’s talk about more mundane things. For general development, it is certainly worth paying a little attention to the notorious director and actors. After which it would be impossible not to talk about the accompanying awards and accolades. So who are they, the winners of the main three of the total eight Oscar nominations? Truth be told, none of them were ever won – no luck with the competition in the form of ‘Schindler’s List’.
A three-time Oscar nominee, before ‘The Remains of The Day’ with ‘A Room with a View’ and ‘Howards End’, James Ivory in the director’s chair, and the magnificent Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in front of the camera. Ivory filigree directing, Hopkins and Thompson inspired performance. In general, there is nothing more to say: fans of quality directing and self-indulgent acting will have enough of the above written theses. A slew of nominations, not forgetting Spielberg, in various categories at various film forums are extra arguments ‘for’.
The film is served with the occasional use of a voice-over narrative denoting the reading of the main characters’ letters to each other, as well as accompanying, often quite lengthy flashbacks to ‘twenty years ago’. And it is probably the events of long ago that occupy the bulk of the plot.
The lack of pacing, which is, however, absolutely unnecessary, is compensated for by an amazingly plausible atmosphere, underlined from the first shots by charming music, delightful interiors and views of truly English manor houses.
Ivory’s film is steeped in politics, with Lord Darlington’s dubious pro-German decisions as the backdrop to the ‘story of the butler and housekeeper relationship’. The Lord’s estate is a stronghold of true Britain. Here everyone, from the last stable boy to the master himself, is a prisoner of Order and Tradition. Here lives and works the hereditary butler Stevens, whose image is revealed through his relationship with his aged father, who has served in the same position for 54 years, and with the new housekeeper, who has become irreplaceable in the household.
The middle-aged Christopher Reeve and Hugh Grant appear in the background with varying degrees of sporadicity, as well as the very young and fleeting Ben Chaplin and Lena Headey. With their moderately passionate parts they dilute the outward primness and serenity of the protagonists, played by Hopkins and Thompson. But Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton have all the main emotions inside, and one can only admire the characters’ self-control and the extraordinary talent of the actors who embodied their characters, managing to convey to the audience the whole gamut of their inner passions, the depth and sadness of their relationships even in the make-up of ’20 Years Later’.
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (58.6 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0
Korean: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish (Latino): DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles
English SDH, English, Arabic, Mandarin (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish.
