The White Countess Page #6

Synopsis: Shanghai. 1936. Crossroads of the world and into this city of political intrigue comes Sofia, a Russian Countess who, with the remains of her family, has been left stateless by the Revolution. Forced by her reduced circumstances to support herself and her family as a bar-girl and taxi dancer, Sofia forms a relationship with Jackson, a blind former diplomat who opens an elegant bar; The White Countess. Their curious relationship matures but they are caught up in the fall of the city to the Japanese invaders.
Director(s): James Ivory
Production: Sony Pictures Classics
  2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
60
Rotten Tomatoes:
49%
PG-13
Year:
2005
135 min
$1,641,467
Website
301 Views


viciousness and chaos.

There's no broader canvas out there.

Nothing a man can go

and compose a pretty picture on.

What you have achieved here,

inside these walls...

is certainly very satisfying.

But for myself,

I still dream of a broader canvas.

Just what is it you wish to paint

on This canvas of yours, Mr. Matsuda?

I'm not myself a great painter.

I hope only to play a very humble part.

But it is my wish...

my cherished dream...

to see Japan become a truly great nation...

as great as Britain or France...

or your nation, Mr. Jackson.

But such things needn't concern us here.

It is a great pleasure for me, Mr. Jackson...

to be able to come and relax

in This wonderful atmosphere...

forget about my responsabilities.

I've looked everywhere for it. I can't find it.

I'm sure Olga's lost it.

What is it? Aunt Vera, what's wrong?

The hat.

Baroness Santachiara gave it

to your mama in Paris.

I'm sure she's lost it.

Grushenka, dear, do you know where it is?

I'm sure Mama hasn't lost it.

But what do you want a thing like that for?

An old hat like that?

If she hasn't lost it, that's what I'll wear.

What do you mean? Wear it where?

I'll wear it to the French Consulate.

I'll wear it tomorrow.

Aunt Vera,

we are not gonng to the Consulate.

Peter and I will go to the Consulate.

We'll go tomorrow.

-Darling, you have to understand--

-Grushenka, you can't stop us.

And your mama will not stop us.

Peter and I have decided.

Aunt Vera, everything is different now.

They will laugh at you. And in that hat.

I will not hide myself away any longer.

I may be poor. I am the

Princess Vera Artalinovna Belinskya.

I will go to the Consulate...

and we will pay our respects

to our old family friend...

Monsieur le Comte de Passavant.

Peter, take another look.

Look. Right there.

Peter.

Excuse me.

But aren't you...

Yes, I knew it.

The Prince and Princess Belinksy.

How extraordinary.

I passed you as you came in.

I thought it couldn't be you, but it is!

It's Antoine.

Young Antoine.

Antoine Jacquier.

Antoine Jacquier?

Young Antoine.

Can it really be you?

My dear Princess!

My dear Prince!

How delightful to see you again!

But what are you doing here?

We've come to pay our respects

to M. de Passavant.

But what a surprise

to find you here in Shanghai.

Do you remember coming to see me

every Tuesday and Thursday?

Have you continued playing the piano?

Regrettably, I'm rather out of practice.

You'd be cross with me, Princess.

You used to scold me when I didn't practice!

I haven't forgotten.

You were only ten years old.

Antoine.

I knew it was him.

You were both so kind, so generous to me.

I think of you often...

that marvelous house, your family.

But now you...

You are here.

Grushenka!

Vera and Peter met an old friend of theirs

today at the French Consulate.

It was quite by chance,

but he's promised to help us.

It seems to be absolutely true.

I have his letter here.

He'll help us?

He says he can arrange everything.

Passports, papers,

tickets on a ship to Hong Kong...

even letters of introduction. Everything.

Of course, such things cost money.

None of it is for Monsieur Jacquier himself,

he emphasizes that.

He's listed all the costs.

Sofia.

We might not have another chance.

For a long time now...

-ever since I had This job, I haven't had to--

-Katya.

Think of Katya.

It might be her last chance.

-I can't promise, but I'll do what I can.

-People are afraid of the Japanese.

By next week,

the situation might be out of his hands.

I'll do what I can.

Watch it!

Mr. Jackson? Sir?

Well, well, Thomas.

Haven't seen you for a while.

Where have you been?

Well, sir, a lot of us have been saying

the same thing about you.

We don't see much of you these days.

No?

Mr. Jackson,

I did want to have a word with you.

Yeah?

Now?

Frankly, sir, the company directors

have been expressnng concern...

for some tnme now about...

well, about your way of life.

You've probably been aware of This.

My way of life?

What's that?

You mean all This?

I guess so.

You don't see any of This, do you, Thomas?

I mean, you look at This

and you see nothing.

Nothing.

Mr. Jackson, there was a meeting

of the board This afternoon.

Certain people feel your association

with the company...

ns no longer necessarily--

Of course, there's the matter

of that Japanese fellow.

-Mr. Matsuda?

-Matsuda, yes.

I don't understand you, Crane.

As far as I was aware,

the United States and Japan are still allies.

But as you must know, sir,

Mr. Matsuda nsn't any Japanese.

What do you mean?

You didn't know?

My dealings with him

are entirely at the personal level.

Mr. Matsuda is a man...

who is much feared and loathed

by the Chinese authorities.

In Northern China

they remember him well enough.

Whenever he showed up,

a Japanese invasion wouldn't be far behind.

So as you can see, sir,

your friend's presence here in Shanghai...

isn't exactly regarded as a good omen.

Even the Japanese here

don't like to be seen with him.

Mr. Matsuda and I,

we share certain interests...

passions. We've become friends.

That's nothing to do with politics

or armies or fighting.

That all belongs out there.

And as for the rest of it, your meetings,

your dinners, your receptions...

hell, I never intended to be a businessman.

They wanted to use my name

to make an extra dollar.

So I let them. That's all.

If things have changed, well,

then to hell with them.

So, sir, do I take it you don't intend to--

Damn right, I don't intend to.

I don't intend anything!

Thomas, look around you.

Don't you see all This?

All This?

You don't.... You don't see...

the beauty?

Mr. Jackson, before I came out here,

I'd heard a lot about you.

I came out here hopnng to learn from you.

I believe you're trying to tell me....

Are you trying to tell me that I'm something

of a disappointment to you?

Frankly, sir...

I can't believe you're the same man

my father respects so much.

Good night, sir.

So This is where you hide yourself

these days.

You remember me?

I used to see you on the tram.

I thought you only went

to the French Quarter.

I go wherever there's laughter

and happiness.

Wherever there are

charming beautiful ladies.

And I must say, my dear

you're particularly charming tonight.

Thank you.

Well, then.

What do you suppose our

little orchestra will play next?

If it's something slow,

then I insist you dance with me.

But only if it's slow.

with some women, one should only dance...

slowly.

And you, my dear, are one of them.

Who the hell do you think you're talking to?

Who let you in here?

-I'm sorry, I said something wrong?

-You think I can't hear?

I can hear every damn word

you're saying to her.

In that case, you must know I said nothing--

What do you take her for? Dance with her?

You're not fit to breathe the air around her.

Get out of here! Get out!

Get out! Who let you in here?

I don't want you in here!

Get out of here!

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Kazuo Ishiguro

Sir Kazuo Ishiguro (born 8 November 1954) is a Nobel Prize-winning British novelist, screenwriter, and short-story writer. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan; his family moved to the UK in 1960 when he was five. Ishiguro graduated from the University of Kent with a bachelor's degree in English and Philosophy in 1978 and gained his master's from the University of East Anglia's creative writing course in 1980. Ishiguro is considered one of the most celebrated contemporary fiction authors in the English-speaking world, having received four Man Booker Prize nominations, and having won the award in 1989, for his novel The Remains of the Day. Ishiguro's 2005 novel, Never Let Me Go, was named by Time as the best novel of the year, and was included in the magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005. Growing up in a Japanese family in the UK was crucial to his writing, as it enabled him, he says, to see things from a different perspective to that of many of his British peers. His seventh novel, The Buried Giant, was published in 2015. In 2017, the Swedish Academy awarded Ishiguro the Nobel Prize in Literature, describing him in its citation as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world". Ishiguro was knighted in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List. more…

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