![]() ![]() There are emotional reasons why he refuses to look. This confrontation has been going on for some time, and he has been refusing to look or to indulge in what he dismisses as a whim of hers. ![]() “Look at it!” Miss Kenton exclaims, pointing a finger at the space beyond the camera and, in this shot-reverse shot setup, behind where Mr. Stevens, is being directed to look at, as is, therefore, the viewer. The object in question-rudely, curtly, oddly called the “Chinaman”-is something the film’s main character, Mr. But it’s the kind of meaning that moves beyond mere plot or motivation it’s a small scene-and it’s a small object-yet it’s freighted with import, reflecting The Remains of the Day’s emotional, historical, racial, socioeconomic, even perceptual contours. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) through its effortfully kept-up drawing rooms and libraries to get him to answer her query. Nevertheless, housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) relentlessly pursues the grand English manor’s head butler Mr. “Is that or is it not the wrong Chinaman?” A strange phrase, especially one to be so vehemently uttered in the punctilious world of Darlington Hall. Michael Koresky on The Remains of the Day ![]()
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