The White Countess (2005)

I wanted to like this movie, given the cast, the time period of it, and the decent IMDb rating. I see someone gave it ten stars. Sadly, it is another case of a movie being too highly rated in my opinion. There were several problems with this movie. First, the pace was so slow and the premises were mostly unbelievable. Perhaps one could believe that a blind diplomat could start a nightclub with a woman he has never seen(after conveniently winning money to do so), but has some sort of idealized fantasy about. But their relationship and non-relationship is convoluted and makes little sense. He is her employer and a patron in some way, and they are also friends, ...sort of...in so far as she is not allowed to discuss her home life and things that make break the mental illusion he has of her. If anyone had such a relationship, its hard to imagine that it would be spoken of. I love Ralph Fiennes. He usually has such a capacity for depth and nuance. I did not believe in this character, however, or what he was trying to achieve. It was Ralph being himself, without there being much character development. I found him the entire enterprise uninteresting. I couldn't even recommend this film as something a Ralph Fiennes fan should see in order to admire his performance. Of slightly more interest was Natasha Richardson's character, who I at least found interesting and inspired some sympathy. However, for most of the film, nothing developed in her circumstances. Despite my love of historical drama, I would not recommend this.

I've realized over the years that I have a fondness for "underdog" movies.No,not in terms of plot but for movies that either don't get the critical recognition they deserve or just were not widely accepted or known by audiences.A family member received this from a friend and we watched it together and while they liked the movie okay,I liked it more and decided I'd keep the DVD.The reason I liked it more was that it could tell a story about this time in the Orient's history,without resorting to overly-violent,disturbing images.We see the invasion of Japan on Shanghai and the chaos and violence associated but are spared having to see bloodied or burned bodies or bullets entering flesh. I found this refreshing for a change.The Russian Countess and her "royal family" and the Mr. Jackson character share the burden of having had their lives leveled by sad and unexpected circumstances. They suffer in their own ways , which is how the two story devices come together as one.She has to be a "private dancer" (and more) to earn money and he's losing his place in the political world because of his blindness. The two are brought together by the taking of blind faith chances or risks.He offers her the chance to be the "centerpice" of his dream of the perfect club,without her having to sell her body. He also takes a long shot risk on a horse race to make this dream a reality.They are also surrounded by people who have no faith in them and dislike their personal choices. Most notably the Countess's family. They are "shamed" by her line of work but do nothing to make money themselves. They also fear her choice of profession is a bad example for her young daughter.It's probably a no brainer that they would fall in love and I like the way it was handled here. They have an agreement not to get personal when working together and for a time I didn't think they'd be lovers in the end.It's the realities of their situations that eventually do bring them together and I found their realization of feelings completely real. This and the climax of the film make the ending not just dramatic but a fully realized and sensible conclusion.Ten stars from me to the late Natahsa Richardson & Lynn Redgrave both who were gone by the time I had seen this. Bravo to you both and all involved. (END)

Warning! This review contains spoilers. It will reveal the end of the movie. If you don't want to know the end of the movie, don't read this review."White Countess"' advertising is misleading. The poster depicts the very handsome Ralph Fiennes passionately kissing the very beautiful Natasha Richardson. "Echoes of Casablanca!" a review is quoted.Well ... no. This ain't "Casablanca," and it is not, primarily, a passionate love story."White Countess" is also not a deep or important movie. It's not saying big things in an aesthetically successful way.Really what it is is a chilly, stodgy, art class exercise. Script writer Kazuo Ishiguro has received highbrow critical acclaim, and he's trying to be smart and important here, and he fails.Basic story: exiled Russian countess Sofia (Natasha Richardson), in the post-Revolutionary, pre-WW II era, does taxi dancing, and perhaps also prostitution, in Shanghai. She thereby supports her miserable, scheming, whining, unattractive, lazy, parasitic family. Two members of the family are played by Richardson's real life family, Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave.Blind American Todd Jackson, (Ralph Fiennes) opens a new nightclub, and hires Sofia to be his hostess.Eventually, the Japanese invade, and Todd, Sofia, her daughter, her Jewish neighbor and his daughter, escape on a boat.And that's it. Why does this story take over two hours to tell, and to tell coldly, leaving most viewers and critics surprisingly unmoved? Because it's all a big metaphor. Todd Jackson, blind American, who connives to get Japanese, Chinese, thugs, socialites, in his bar, is a symbol of America. He's always smiling, and he seems like a nice guy, but he keeps messing with foreign affairs.It is revealed, through flashbacks, that he used to be a diplomat, and was involved with the League of Nations. He befriends Matsuda, a Japanese man and, what do you know, the Japanese invade Shanghai. Those d*** Americans, scriptwriter Ishiguro implies; if only they didn't mess with things, the Japanese wouldn't have committed all those atrocities in China.Yeah, it is that silly. And pseudo-deep.Also, Jackson is attracted to Sofia, as he states in so many words, because she is a beautiful woman with a tragic past. That arch, intellectual distance from any spontaneous human emotion, any real human contact, is the tone of the entire film. It's like an abstract painting, pushing the viewer away from any involvement with the characters.Given what an art class exercise and mind game this movie is, it was utterly dishonest of the filmmakers to advertise it as a romance for the ages.Fiennes and Richardson kiss once, and it is awkward and unpleasant. "Casablanca"? I don't think so.The sets are lovely, though. They do convey a sense of Shanghai in a perilous moment.And the performances, for what they are, are great. Natasha Richardson does a very nice Russian accent. She plays her part -- that of a stupid, bullied, and thereby unappealing Russian countess, well.Fiennes is a phenomenon. I don't know if his performance here should be praised or dissected. His American accent is very good, and his phony smile never fades. But his performance is in service of a cypher, not a real part, not a real human being, and a plot that is didactic and pretentious rather than in service to telling a human story.

POSSIBLE SPOILERSLike most Merchant-Ivory films, "The White Countess" is set in an exotic location (in this case Shanghai in the mid-1930's on the verge of the Japanese invasion), and it proceeds at a leisurely pace. Again, like most Merchant-Ivory films, it has an excellent cast: Ralph Fiennes as a blind American ex-diplomat, Natasha Richardson as the title character, and Lynn Redgrave and Vanessa Redgrave as members of her Russian émigré family who are ashamed of the fact that she is earning money (which they are glad enough to accept) as a "dance hall girl" and presumed prostitute. The problem here is that the leisurely pace slows to a crawl and the events leading up to the Japanese takeover are observed at a distance through the interaction of Fiennes with a Japanese diplomat/spy/advance man played by Hiroyuki Sanada. Fiennes has opened his own bar/gathering place with race track winnings and named it The White Countess after the hostess he has hired away from another establishment. Sanada's character -- Matsuda -- helps Fiennes create the political tension that he considers necessary for his place to be successful. Although they are the principals, neither Fiennes nor Richardson distinguish themselves particularly, and Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave are strictly secondary characters. Sanada is, in my opinion, the most successful actor in the entire movie. That's another way of saying that the main story is utterly unconvincing and the principal actors seem merely to have gone through the motions. Neither Fiennes nor Richardson made me care about what is happening to their characters. The Japanese enter the city, the émigrés flee to an undetermined fate. Perhaps the book was more engrossing.