White Countess

Allan Corduner, Ralph Fiennes, Madeleine Potter, Lynn Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Hiroyuki Sanada and John Wood

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Description

The final entry in the canon of quietly rich tales from producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, THE WHITE COUNTESS enlists Kazuo Ishiguro (REMAINS OF THE DAY) and master cinematographer Christopher Doyle (CHUNGKING EXPRESS) to weave its sumptuous magic. The incomparable Natasha Richardson stars as Sofia, a former Russian countess who has fled with her dead husbands family to 1930s Shanghai, where she works in a seedy dance hall to earn the households only income. But Sofias dependents are less than grateful, turning up their noses at her fallen stature while remorselessly accepting her money. The blue blood runs thick in Sofias house, with two other Redgraves, Vanessa and Lynn, flawlessly portraying deposed nobility; Sofias daughter Katya (Madeleine Potter) is her only source of joy. Meanwhile, blind former diplomat Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) patronizes Shanghais colorful drinking establishments, and dreams of opening one of his own. This he gains the courage to do when he meets Sofia; she saves him from being robbed one night, intercepting some thuggish types and seeing him to safety while also capturing his imagination. She becomes his muse, her history injecting Jacksons bar, the White Countess, with just the right note of tragedy and romance. Their relationship, however, is kept strictly on the level of a professional friendship. But as the tension between the Chinese and Japanese mounts towards war--catalyzed in part by Jacksons friend, the mysterious but powerful Mr. Matsuda (Hiroyuki Sanada)--Mr. Jackson is forced to accept that he cannot keep the world at bay inside the White Countess, and must instead deal directly with his feelings for Sofia.

Special Features

Commentary with James Ivory and Natasha Richardson,, Featurette Behind-The-Scenes,, A Tribute To Ismail Merchant,, Making of The White Countess

Technical Details

Region 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Running Time: 130 minutes
Main Language: English
Subtitles: Croatian\Icelandic\Dutch\Romanian\Slovenian\Czech\Hungarian\Bulgarian\English\Arabic\HIndi\Polish\Turkish
Dubbed Languages: Polish\Hungarian\Czech
Hearing Impaired Languages: English

Genre: Drama

Certificate: TBA To Be Announced

Directed by: James Ivory