Iris
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Hugh Bonneville, Jim Broadbent, Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Penelope WiltonBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
Published: 2002-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-08-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of Iris
Movie Review: A Truly Beautiful Mind
Summary: 5 Stars
"Iris" is one of the best movies that I have seen. It is also one of the hardest to watch. It is exquisitely made. Written and directed beautifully by Richard Eyre, who got career best performances from Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet (all three were nominated for Oscars) and newcomer Hugh Bonneville. But because it deals with the systematic destruction of a brilliant mind by Alzheimer's Disease, it is not easy to sit through. But it's worth it. The movie keeps from being a complete downer because it is ultimately a celebration of an extraordinary life and a tale of unconditional love.
Iris Murdoch was a brilliant woman, a novelist and philosopher whose insight into the human condition distinguished her from her peers. "Iris" dramatizes two periods of Murdoch's life, which are cleverly juxtapozed. We see the young Iris (Kate Winslet) as a promiscuous student falling in love with the meek John Bayley (Hugh Bonneville). They are an unlikely match. Iris is a woman wildly ahead of her time while John is shy and somewhat befuddled. We also see the older Iris (Judi Dench) as she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and view her slow and inevitable decline. If the film elected to tell Iris's life story in chronocological order, it would be unbearable to watch. This way, the tragedy is easier to take.
Judi Dench outdoes herself here. She makes Iris's cruel destruction by Alzheimer's so believable that we stop being aware of a great actress inhabiting a part and see a real human being slowly falling to pieces. At first Iris forgets the meanings of words like "puzzled," and finds her latest book more difficult to write then the others. Soon this genius of a writer is gone, and in her body is a childlike presence wandering aimlessly through her house muttering incoherently about the mailman. What makes Dench's performance so moving are the moments when Iris has moments of clarity, such as when she is nearly hit by a car, looks up at her husband's face and says "I love you." It makes your heart break. This is an unforgettable performance.
As John Bayley, who helplessly watches his wife disappear, Jim Broadbent is equally outstanding. He deservedly won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work. John has always depended on Iris, and now is forced into the role of caretaker. He is both angry, frightened, and devestated by what she has become. You can hear the decades of love and tenderness in his voice when he tells Iris "darling clever cat, you wrote books," when she remembers she was once a writer. Hugh Bonneville, as the young John hopelessly smitten with the incandescent Iris, is just as affecting.
Kate Winslet disappears into the role of young Iris just as completely as Judi Dench, and in doing so delivers some of her best work so far. Winslet makes Iris wild and impulsive, with a deep understanding of the world and a special gift for living life to its full possibility. When she tells John Bayley that "you know me better than anyone else on earth, you are my world," you can't help but fall in love with her too.
"Iris" is incredibly well made, and its most extraordinary asset is that its quartet of actors is so believable. You don't doubt for a second that Dench and Winslet, Broadbent and Bonneville, are playing the same two characters. And that is only one of this film's many outstanding achievements.
Summary of Iris
Here's the powerful true story based on John Bayley's novels that earned Jim Broadbent an Academy Award(R) for Best Supporting Actor and Academy Award(R) nominations for Best Actress Judi Dench and Best Supporting Actress Kate Winslet (IRIS, 2001). Judi Dench (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) and Kate Winslet (TITANIC) bring to the screen one of the most extraordinary women of the 20th century, celebrated English author Iris Murdoch. As told by her unlikely soulmate, husband John Bayley, Iris first became known as a brilliant young scholar at Oxford whose boundless spirit dazzled those around her. Then, during her remarkable career as a novelist and philosopher, she continued to prove herself a woman ahead of her time. Even in later life, as age and illness robbed Iris of her remarkable gifts, nothing could diminish her immense influence or weaken the bond with her devoted husband.Iris teems with fussy charm and the intimate joy found only in a lover's foibles. Adapted from the memoirs of literary critic John Bayley, the film recounts his courtship of and long marriage to British novelist Iris Murdoch. The scenario tacks back and forth from the young Iris (Kate Winslet)--ready to seduce one and all with her coy command of words and sex appeal--to the elder Iris (Judi Dench)--slowly giving way to the cruel erasure of Alzheimer's--and it is impossible not to be moved by the film's denouement of loss. Ms. Dench is, as usual, resplendent, tossing off literary quips, knowing glares, and razor-sharp metaphors with graceful ease. The pleasure Murdoch took in what must have been an extraordinary life is palpable every second Dench is onscreen. Jim Broadbent is also especially fine as the elder Bayley, steadfast in devotion and humor. The script, however, is painfully predictable and heavy-handed in its frequent use of symbolism (e.g., sheets of paper flying into the ocean, rocks slipping to the river's bottom). Nevertheless, Iris evokes a passion for learning and intimacy worthy of its subject. --Fionn Meade
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