MovieChat Forums > The Remains of the Day (1993) Discussion > I'm so glad that the deleted scenes were...

I'm so glad that the deleted scenes were not included

posted 9 years ago by jamie147
10 replies | jump to latest

I was delighted to discover this board and find that so many of you share my very high opinion of this film. It is one of very few films which I can watch over and over again and not tire of. The acting is just wonderful all round.

It was also very interesting to discover a link to the deleted scenes which other users had very usefully posted on this board. Here is the link again: -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ8JvAJXHM0

It was absolutely wonderful to discover these scenes and enjoy them as little gems in their own right. But equally, in pretty much every case, I am glad that these scenes did not make the final cut. I will describe my thoughts on each of the deleted scenes below.

1. Stevens getting the car ready for his trip and Lewis meeting and photographing him.

Fun to watch, but this scene serves only to mock Stevens through Lewis's eyes, albeit in an affectionate way, and parody Stevens' character. I think it is too much. In the final cut of the film, we already get enough of this in the scene where Lewis is reading his newspaper, for example. This deleted scene takes it too far and could be considered as being inappropriately comical.

2. Small Dispute between Stevens and Miss Kenton.

Again, fun to watch in its own right, but unnecessary. We already have enough scenes that illustrate the tensions between the two main characters in the film. Also, the way Stevens laughs as he leaves the room is quite out of character and would have annoyed me if it had been included. In fact, I get the impression that this scene may have been filmed early as neither Stevens nor Miss Kenton seem quite right, and it leads me to believe that Hopkins and Thompson hadn't yet fully developed their interpretations.

3. Cardinal talking to Stevens in the conservatory.

To me this scene would have added very little to the film and the facts of life thing was laboured a little here. The way this issue was actually dealt with in the final cut was far more charming and provided just the right amount of light relief from the heaviness of everything else that was going on.

4. Darlington being shaved and apologising to Stevens.

Having Darlington explicitly apologise to Stevens for his humiliation by Spencer the day before, and a further illustration of his increasingly extreme political views was unnecessary. Stevens' humiliation and his complete acceptance of it was wonderfully portrayed in the original scene, as was Darlington's discomfort. To further labour this and for Darlington to explicitly apologise is too much and not in keeping with the subtle approach of the film.

5. Mrs. Benn on the pier with Stevens says that she sometimes wonders what a life with Stevens would have been like.

I am so pleased that this was not included. The mutual but inevitably unfulfilled aspiration of them being together is beautifully conveyed implicitly throughout the entire film and hangs in the air like a subtle mist without it ever being mentioned. To suddenly spell it out like that would considerably spoil the magic.

6. Stevens meets another butler on the pier and ends up breaking down.

Of all the deleted scenes, this is the one that would have spoiled things most if it had been included. Indeed, it would have changed my overall impression of the film from being one of my favourite films of all time, deserving 9.5 or almost 10 out of ten, to simply being a good film, worthy of 7/10, and possibly only to be watched once or twice.

Why? The whole film conveys Stevens’s internal struggles implicitly and subtly. It is the main theme of the film for me and almost every scene does this in one way or another. To just spell it out to us like that right at the end would not be in keeping with the wonderfully subtle approach of the whole film and would have considerably spoiled it. That said, the scene itself is very well acted, and it is wonderful to see Brian Pringle making an appearance. Good as a little sketch in its own right, but I'm delighted that it was not included in the film.

Well, those are my opinions! I would be very interested to read those of other members plus any reaction to the above.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

I agree that the film could lose all those scenes except the pier scene - the deletion of that scene drops this movie from a 9.5 to a 7.5, to say nothing about its omission being a betrayal of Hopkins, who only agreed to do the film if that scene was included - and he was right.

It’s the most crucial sequence in the novel and explains the title since we’re left wondering what Stevens will do with ‘The Remains Of The Day’ (the rest of his life) now that he’s had his epiphany about how he has squandered his life in the service of fools and left nothing for himself.

Hopkins’ performance in the scene is incredible, one of the highlights of his career, as his repressed emotions finally erupt in an unexpected tearful confession to a stranger in a strange land.

It was in the original script, but then Ruth Prower Jhabvala created a new draft without it - clearly she misunderstood the material. Hopkins said he’d walk unless the scene was reinserted, James Ivory filmed it but left it on the cutting room floor in an act of extreme betrayal and artistic incompetence.

So now the pressure builds for the whole film and it ends with Stevens still trapped in his delusions. It’s emotionally unsatisfying, depressing, and worst of all - a betrayal of the wonderful source material.