‘The Remains Of The Day’ (1993): A Portrayal Of Fascism In England Today?
Mr. Stevens Overriding Sense Of Duty
“The hard reality is, surely, that for the likes of you and I, there is little choice other than to leave our fate, ultimately, in the hands of those great gentlemen at the hub of this world who employ our services.”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Yesterday the BBC broadcast The Remains of the Day (1993) adapted from the brilliant Booker Prize-winning 1989 novel of the same name, by Kazuo Ishiguro. It has become one of my favourite films now but that has not always been the case.
My first experience with this movie was when I was no more than about 25 years old and a huge fan of science fiction and those iconic movies of the late 1970s and 1980s such as Blade Runner, Alien — and its nearly as good sequel Aliens — Star Wars and Predator. I was unable to see the attraction and critical acclaim of this very limited and claustrophobic world of servants and masters in pre-World War Two England.
It was too much of a culture shock to go from an outer space and mind-blowing near-future time into a claustrophobic — almost incestuous — class-based, inner space, of privilege and time almost standing still by holding fast to its political atavism. I was no…
