The White Countess Movie Review 2005

As you might expect from a Merchant Ivory production, the period styling is gorgeous even if the story is a little finicky. Set on the eve of Japan's WWII invasion of China in 1936, the film follows Sofia (Richardson) who lives in Shanghai, where she supports her family of exiled Russian aristocrats by scratching out a living as an exotic dancer and prostitute. She meets expatriate American Todd Jackson (Fiennes), who recognizes Sofia as the ideal hostess for his new nightclub, The White Countess. Richardson and Fiennes truly make the viewer care about their wounded characters, even as their business and personal relationships spirals downwards thanks to the chaos of war.

Distribution

Sony Pictures Home Video, Sony Pictures Plz., 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232, Phone: (310)244-7306, Fax: (310)280-2485, URL: http://www.spe.sony.com, Remarks: Formerly Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

Available on DVD
Running time 138 minutes.
Originally from United States, Chinese, British, German.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Period Piece: 1930s, Romantic Drama, China, Blindness, Producers: Merchant Ivory, Foreign Intrigue, Single Parents, Royalty, Russian, Bar & Grill

Screenplay

Kazuo Ishiguro, John Bright

Cast

Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lynn Redgrave, Allan Corduner, Ying Da, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Lee Pace, Madeleine Potter, John Wood, Madeleine Daly, Dan Herzberg, Pierre Seznec, Luoyong Wang

Cinematography

Christopher Doyle

Director

James Ivory

Music

Richard Robbins

Other

Bob Hein, John David Allen, Steve Simmonds, Yu Baiyang, Chen Shaomian, Andrew Sanders

Producer

Ismail Merchant, Merchant-Ivory Productions, VIP Medienfonds 3, Shanghai Film Group Corp, Sony Pictures Entertainment