Merchant Ivory's acclaimed period drama 'The Remains of the Day' has arrived on BBC iPlayer, available for free streaming. The 1993 film, adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro's Booker Prize-winning novel, stars Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in a tale of unrequited love and class division in post-war Britain.
Viewers have praised the film as 'the greatest movie not to win an Oscar', with one IMDb reviewer calling the cinematography 'unbelievable' and the visuals 'striking'. Another hailed it as 'the finest film in the Merchant Ivory canon' and 'a masterpiece of understated emotion'.
The story follows butler James Stevens (Hopkins) as he travels to visit former housemaid Miss Kenton (Thompson), weaving between the 1930s and 1950s to explore the decline of Darlington Hall and its owner's Nazi connections. The film also examines Britain's rigid class structure and the suppressed romance between the two leads.
Nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hopkins, the film lost out to 'Schindler's List'. The supporting cast includes Christopher Reeve, Hugh Grant, Ben Chaplin, and Lena Headey.
