Rate It
|
||||||||||||||||
Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
All Flixster |
(1748) |
2769 |
13842 |
Female |
(1070) |
1695 |
8472 |
Male |
(678) |
1074 |
5370 |
More Like This
If you liked this, then you'll also probably like...
Got another recommendation for someone who liked this movie? Add it to the list!
Got an opinion? Use the buttons to vote on all the suggestions people have added.
If lots of people vote, the best suggestions will rise to the top.
| Empire of the Sun (100%) |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbi... (50%) |
|
|
| The Painted Veil (100%) |
|
|
| Heat and Dust (100%) |
|
|
| The Man Who Cried (67%) |
|
|
Plot:
Set in Shanghai in the late 1930s, the story of the relationship between a disillusioned former US diplomat and a refugee White Russian countess reduced to a sordid life in the city's bars. Todd Jacks...( read more 
)
Skin art by
AgentOfChaos2132. Unskin this page.
Meet Other Fans
ONLINE NOW
Recent Reviews
-
MCT:August 5, 2008''We all have to fall in love from time to time... To feed our daughters, and our mothers. And sisters.''
Set in 1930s Shanghai, where a blind American diplomat develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee who works odd -- and sometimes illicit -- jobs to support members of her dead husband's aristocratic family.
Ralph Fiennes: Todd Jackson
Natasha Richardson: Countess Sofia Belinskya
Countess may be very, very slow. but its wonderfully rich visuals and smashing English performances make it the perfect patient man's period film, As mentioned, you must have a lot of glorious patience to make it to that fulfilling conclusion.
Marveled at the cinematography, the great sets, the muted and beautiful fliar of colours.
This Ishiguro story is set in mid-to-late '30s in Shanghai. Ralph Fiennes plays a blind American, Todd Jackson, an ex-diplomat who wants to get away from politics and run the nightclub of his dreams. He has the whole place mapped out in his head. Natasha Richardson as Countess Sofia Belinskya is a high-class escort-service type woman working in a lower-class bar who unselfishly sacrifices her dignity to help support her unappreciative family.
Todd and Sofia meet one day in that bar, he is very impressed with her, and later hires her to run his new place, called The White Countess, hence the film's clever title. Along the way, Todd meets a Japanese man Mr. Matsuda, who we find out isn't the altogether nice guy we thought he was, as it's revealed trouble always follows him.
The themes of isolation and alienation are rampant in this film and occur on many levels. Sophia is shut off from her family and eventually abandoned because of her disgraceful job. Jackson is blind physically and mentally from the real world. They are strangers in a foreign country, a country whose sole foreign policy for the past several centuries has been isolationism, they built a wall to keep people out. These instances are not simply strewn about but are intricately woven into the plot to create a deeper, more meaningful story.
The White Countess explores devastation and new hope, heartbreak and new love, and shows us the hopelessness of walls and cages. We can always close our eyes but that doesn't mean everything around us will disappear.
In the end, this drama comes to life as the Japanese overrun the city and everyone flees for their life. Sofia's family tries to leave without her. The countess desperately goes after them because that family includes her precious young daughter. Fiennes realizes, at the last minute, he doesn't want to live life without Sofia and she he tries to find her among all the chaos. It's a very suspenseful, very positive ending.
White Countess is underrated, under-publicized and a beautifully executed piece. Reminded me of the beautiful Painted Veil. -
MCT:July 18, 2008After minute :
beautiful,dreamy and heartwarming.The review Story :
Enchanting and heartwarming . The story itself told us about both main character's tragedies . Both of the blind diplomat and the countess have their own sad story and when they met each other they told each others stories and it's very sweet . "The white countess" actually has a mature people sadness and it's add some quality ,with Shanghai in war setting , beautiful old style club style with flowing dancing style , odd adult love story and of course the tragedies . It all mixed to one but , it blurred a lot . Honestly , i'm not satisfied with the ending , i hope it'll be something ''dramatic'' but it not matched my prediction .
Setting :
Perfectly heartwarming and beautiful . Shanghai in World War is something incredibly dreamy eye-candy .
Visionary :
It gave you imaginative , lively ,classic animation with Shanghai theme .
Casting :Ralph Fiennes is number one best actor here , with his action as blind man and there's good actor Hiroyuki Sanada and then , the useless Lee Pace . But , overall except Lee Pace the actors's are enjoyable enough.
Nathasha Richardson is teriffic , she's almost the center of the story , she beat the Ralph Fiennes for attracting attention from the viewers . Sophia's confused and sad expression could be mixed by Natasha and her acting become very very enjoyable.
Overall :
This movie's setting just super-attractive and inspiring , i love the costumes , i love the Shanghai middle of war setting , i love the love story , i love the tragedies eventhough the story just a bit' blurred , this movie just mesmerizing . -
MCT:March 26, 2008
One wants to like this, one wants to be impressed, because it is the last Merchant Ivory production the world will ever see. Unfortunately, it's simply not their best. Fiennes is fascinating and Richardson, as always, glows, but this does not capture the senses in the way that "Remains of the Day" or "Howard's End" did. A good picture, but not a great one.
-
MCT:March 4, 2008Great relationship between Fiennes & Richardson were fantastically romantic... Great feel good movie... Good portrayal of family betrayal & friendships... Good demonstration of immigrants starting over from the bottom in their new country...
-
MCT:March 4, 2008
While not perfect I was won over by the performances of Fiennes and Richardson. I cared and rooted for their characters, hence a thumbs up.
-
MCT:February 11, 2008
1930'lu yillarda, Cin'in hukumranligindaki Shangai'de gecen hikaye sade ve huzunlu ama bir o kadar da etkileyici bence. Yoksullasmis gocmen Rus asilzadeleri, sasirtici duyarliliktaki bir Amerikali diplomat, Cinliler ve Japonlar derken film akip gidiyor sessiz ve derinden.. Sade ve abartisiz anlatimina ragmen film hos, biraz da buruk bir tat birakiyor. Ralph Fiennes ile Natasha Richardson'in harikulade oyunculugu ile hos muzikler de bonusu. Yalnizca, afise aldanmayin derim. Atraksiyonlardan gina gelenlere birebir.. :)
-
MCT:January 2, 2008
Riveting period drama featuring mother and daughter and sister combo Vanessa & Lynn Redgrave and Natasha Richardson
-
MCT:December 23, 2007The film has some good visual effects and some terrific performances from its talented cast but it is long, slow and boring.
-
MCT:October 9, 2007
You should really see this movie if you´re a fan of costumedrama. The costume and the setting is beautiful, and that´s it.
-
MCT:September 27, 2007
Oh, I had such hopes on this one. But the story is hard to follow and it's difficult to understand what you're are being told. It all ends where it should begin.
-
MCT:June 12, 2007
This was a very nice movie, has a lot of felling. The scenography was wonderfull. The acting of Ralph Fiennes was very good. I recommend it, for a romantic mood is excelent.
-
MCT:May 26, 2007
A great movie that you would not have heard of unless you live in a city large enough to have an Art house Theater.
An American diplomat (disenchanted by the failure of the League of Nations, and latter blinded) recruits a Russian Countess (part of Russian Royalty overthrown by Communist revolution supporting her family through prostitution) to create a Casablanca-like nightclub in 1930s China. -
MCT:April 24, 2007I expected a lot from this, being James Ivory. I thought it would at least look great, but nooo. It's boring, just that. And the script is terrible, too simple. It has a good story, but...
-
MCT:April 19, 2007
Not as good as Casablanca, but good take on life in a foreign land (Shaghai)! Blind official buys his dream night club and aids a lost countess terribly disgraced & down- trodden! Beautiful love story! Like the truth in this story! Great acting, dialogue and Lynn & Vanessa Redgrave as well as Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson...
-
MCT:April 8, 2007
Not the best from Merchant/Ivory but still worth watching... if you have plenty of time and tissues on hand! Just the fact that it has Vanessa, Lynn, and Natasha is amusing...
-
MCT:March 21, 2007
Not a bad movie, interesting story line especially how Mr.Jackson and Sofia end up together, and how he attained his "canvas"
-
MCT:February 9, 2007
A very moving film though I admit the picture on the cover is very misleading and I expected far more seduction than is either shown or hinted at.
I would be interested to know what the Americans think of Ralph Fiennes American accent seeing as he usually speaks with such a refined English accent.
I see the comparison to such films as Casablance.
Truly splendid shots comparing poverty to the richness of the era. -
MCT:December 30, 2006Watching this movie actually shortened my life span. And I smoke, so I want those two and a half hours back!
-
MCT:December 9, 2006
Ralph Fiennes is a great actor. He managed is role extremely well. The story well is simple about this couple, about who they are. I really liked it! Even a scene talked by itself. It is a great movie.
-
MCT:November 29, 2006
At first, the movie starts off a bit slow. You don't know what is going on with the characters or why they are the way they are. In the half of the movie you finally get to see the real people behind them, their weakness, problems etc... This movie has great performances and great backgrounds.
-
MCT:November 20, 2006
I don't know why I heard so many good things about this movie. It was slow and extremely melodramatic. At the end I just felt like 'what was the point of that?' Some people say you need to watch this movie twice, I watched it one and a half times and saw no improvement.
Ralph Fiennes is the one bright spot in this film, he really did knock it out of the park with this performance.
My Friends Said...
The White Countess Recent Reviews
Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !
Comments
-
AgentOfChaos2132posted 37 days ago
