The White Countess
by James Ivory
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lynn Redgrave, Madeleine Potter, Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa RedgraveDirector: James Ivory
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
Producer: Andre Morgan
Producer: Andreas Grosch
Producer: Andreas Schmid
Producer: Ben Spencer
Producer: Daqing Wang
Producer: Fu Wenxia
Writer: Kazuo Ishiguro
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-16
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of The White Countess
Movie Review: Natasha and Ralph make this bearable
Summary: 3 Stars
The story of "The White Countess" is pretty simple. View the life of a former Russian Countess, Sofia Belinskya (Natasha Richardson), in Shanghai, working as a taxi dancer (which carries the connotation of a "Lady of the Night", if you catch my meaning) just before the onset of World War II. During her humiliating stay in Shanghai, she gets to meet Mr. Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes), a blind former diplomat whose biggest desire is now to create the best bar in Shanghai. The two meet at the place where she works and, as they say, the rest is history.
Firstly, Natasha is gorgeous as the Russian countess. She sells the part hook, line and sinker. She holds herself well, shows her devotion and care for her daughter beautifully, and has a gorgeous relationship with Mr. Jackson. Stunning, and I love listening to her voice.
Ralph Fiennes also does a remarkable job as Mr. Jackson. It is fun to watch him interact with Natasha/Sofia, to see their subtle growing feelings for each other, and to learn of his accident, of his loss. When the two are together on screen...magic.
The scenery is absolutely gorgeous! Everywhere you go, there is so much to look at, you just want to gobble it up! The clubs, the streets, the docks, the shanty homes...all well done and believable.
But overall the story is...well, boring. Time goes by...and nothing happens. People meet in bars...and talk...and nothing happens. Mr. Jackson starts his club halfway through the film...but nothing happens (it is shown a year later fully established). "The White Countess" is so slow and boring, several times I was tempted to abandon it and not finish. But I thought I'd give it a chance.
It picks up at the end. The ending is bittersweet, sad, and yet not. But I felt sadder that it takes so long to get to the meat of the film, to get anything of substance. You have to wade through an hour and a half of random talkings, meetings, and other senseless gibberish that doesn't seem to add to anything to get to the end. And then that's it. No more. Those two hours are gone and are certainly not worth the way the film ended.
People who like Natasha Richardson and Ralph Fiennes might like this, as they both feature prominently in the film. But I wouldn't hold out on it. 3 stars.
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Summary of The White Countess
IN 1930'S SHANGHAI, A BLIND AMERICAN DIPLOMAT DEVELOPS AFATEFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH AN EXILED RUSSIAN COUNTESS, WHICH DRAMATICALLY ALTERS BOTH THEIR LIVES.A stellar cast and an intricate script enhance this last film from the elegant producing/directing team of Merchant/Ivory (creators of A Room with a View, Howards End, and more). Set in 1930s Shanghai, "The White Countess" is both Sofia (Natasha Richardson, Patty Hearst), a fallen member of the Russian aristocracy, and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat named Jackson (Ralph Fiennes, The English Patient), who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create. Sofia accepts to escape a life of prostitution, but Jackson's world proves both fragile and volatile--as does Shanghai itself, on the verge of an invasion from Japan. The script, by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day), is fundamentally about culture--what it is, how it's formed, how it shapes and is shaped by human desires--but to describe it thus makes the movie sound academic. Instead, it's lush and subtle, fluid in how it weaves together two people deeply wounded by past losses, who gradually come to embrace what the immediate moment has to offer. Fiennes and Richardson are the movie's core, but surrounding them is a stunning supporting cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave (Mrs. Dalloway, Julia), Lynn Redgrave (Shine), Allan Corduner (Topsy-Turvy), and Hiroyuki Sanada (Ringu). --Bret Fetzer
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