The pigeon at the end
I'm interested to know your interpretation of the pigeon scene at the end of the movie. Was it to symbolize the vanishing class system...the 'freeing' of the servant class?
shareI took the pigeon as a personal, not a political, symbol. I saw it as both Stevens's last chance of a life shared with Miss Kenton escaping him and his now being free to make the best life he can from the remains of the day.
sharestevens is the pigeon and has chosen a life in a cage
share"stevens is the pigeon and has chosen a life in a cage "
But the pigeon wasn't in a cage. It got into the house by mistake and Stevens and Mr. Lewis released it back into nature.
Okay, I just watched the documentary on the DVD. James Ivory said that a bird flew down the chimney while they were shooting and he thought the effect was so interesting that he decided to use it in the last scene. He said people are always trying to determine the meaning...when there was none intended. Well, I think that's the privilege of a viewer..to interpret threw their own prism. That's what makes art so interesting, isn't it? I do agree with LaChicaChoca though, that the pigeon flying free back to its own life and away from Darlington makes Stevens' choices, and the outcome of those choices, all the more heartbreaking. James Ivory did comment, as the camera panned up and away in that final scene, that perhaps the 'pigeon-eye view' of the house and the countryside showed that this was one part of England that wasn't touched, physically, by the war. Which, I suppose, when compared to the lives within that were torn asunder by personal choice, is another interesting thought.
share"I do agree with LaChicaChoca though, that the pigeon flying free back to its own life and away from Darlington makes Stevens' choices, and the outcome of those choices, all the more heartbreaking."
Beautifully put. (And I'm not saying that just because you agreed with me.)
"James Ivory did comment, as the camera panned up and away in that final scene, that perhaps the 'pigeon-eye view' of the house and the countryside showed that this was one part of England that wasn't touched, physically, by the war."
For some reason, I find that final shot almost unbearably sad. I'm sure part of it is the music. But a sense of loss overwhelms me every time I see it. As far as the "pigeon-eye view of the house and countryside showing that one part of England wasn't touched by the war, I don't find that consoling. The house may stand but what it stood for is gone.
A "bird" is British slang for a female. I took the scene to be symbolic of Ms. Kenton's sudden appearance into Mr. Steven's life, his inability to cope with the situation, and Ms. Kenton leaving his life through his own inaction -- away from the gilded cage Stevens had created for himself. Or, more succinctly, the bird had flown.
shareNo disrespect, but considering the previous posts, it seems that you are reading meaning into this scene that was not intended by the director.
shareThank you for your courtesy.
Yes, I've got the DVD, watched the movie with commentary, and heard how the pigeon meant nothing. I just don't believe it.
Artists love to play games with metaphoric interpretation -- encouraging it where it was not intended and discouraging it where it was.
I was also interested hearing from Ivory that after the pigeon is released, when the camera pans up and out showing a kind of pigeon-eye view of Darlington Hall while flying away that, coincidentally, metaphophric interpretation is intended.
Things may very well be as Ivory says, but I came away with the impression he was being a bit coy about the whole ending.
"I told you it was off." The Jackal
Quite. Whether the pigeon was originally incidental or not, there is certainly something pointed about the scene. Notice how, for a few seconds the glass door is super-imposed onto the birds eye view of Darlington Hall. This is a considered move from the director to depict Mr.Stevens's imprisoned existence as his last chance has finally escaped him.
"A ship lost inches away from the bay."
Also, think about how Hopkins chose (or was directed) to portray Stevens when the pigeon comes down the chimney.
He is hesitant, uncertain, even timid. Stevens never moves forward to put his hands on the bird. He passively allows things to take their own course, which is remarkable, since Stevens even goes so far as letting his employer handle such a menial task.
It seems a series of considered moves by the director went into giving the ending an "accidental" metaphoric quality.
"I told you it was off." The Jackal
pigeon does go for purity also, I believe? and could someone kindly explain to me what could a friend here, a few posts before, mean by ''what the house stood for was no longer there after the war''?
very nice topic!
Are you sure you aren't thinking of a dove?
Sorry, no animals in the discussion hall. You have to dismount your high horse to participate.
"He is hesitant, uncertain, even timid. Stevens never moves forward to put his hands on the bird. He passively allows things to take their own course, which is remarkable, since Stevens even goes so far as letting his employer handle such a menial task. "
Excellent description. Completely agree.
Two things.
I agree with dsbjpo. It is symbolic. Like Miss Kenton, the pigeon came, ". . . somewhat unexpectedly, one might even say impulsively", as Mr. Stevens put it, and he was never able to get a hold of her nor the pigeon. Note the ending: Mr. Stevens staring out at the fluttering wings of lost love, always and forever out of his reach as he gazes at its flight from behind a wall of glass, the white frame of the window like a set of soft prison bars, locking him in. The book is closed. He shuts the window himself, of his own volition, encasing himself in his own sweet pain, his agony familiar, accepted, comfortable. Never again will he have the chance of capturing that elusive and delicate winged creature, that happiness known as companionship, that rare connection to another heart.
As far as the director's comments on the pigeon, he may very well have been lying. They in Hollywood - and the like - do it all the time (film makers and actors are not known for morality or honesty).
When the film Hamlet came out in 1954 (I think that was the year) Laurence Olivier was asked why he made it in black & white instead of the - at the time - very popular new technicolor, or some such color technique. He said, 'I see my Hamlet as more of an etching rather than a portrait.'
Well, lo and behold, 40 years later he told the truth. He said that in reality, they were in a legal dispute with the colorizing company and weren't able to get it resolved by the time it went to final print.
Lets wait 40 years and maybe Ivory will tell us something different.
Who knows. Even if it is the way he stated, still, in this case, I think the symbolism is appropriate.
www.joekeck.com
That's a well thought out interpretation.
Might I offer my own: the pigeon flying away from the manor represents a last chance (a reference to the film's title, _the Remains of the Day_) of freedom for Stevens, but he closes the door firmly behind him. He is determined to spend the 'remains of the day' -- or, figuratively, his 'life' -- as a butler. Poignantly, even his love for Mrs Kenton (affirmed by his not wanting to let go of her hand at the bus stop) was not enough to change him. The recurring theme is loyalty is blind.
Although this is an old thread, old post and the user I'm replying to may not even be around anymore, I just want to put it out there that whether or not the bird they set free was symbolic of Ms Kenton, it wouldn't have been because of the British slang word "bird".
Only people who are "rough around the edges" call women "birds" and I highly doubt the filmmakers would be the type of people to even have that slang in mind. It's not commonly said anymore among more refined people unless you're a sexist asshole.
It's really peculiar when you think about it: a multi-million dollar movies with impeccable casting, scenery, costuming, sound design, music ... and the director chooses to end it with a completely random occurrence. "Hey, a bird! What the hell, let's throw this into the flick."
Not saying he wasn't telling the truth here - why would he lie? But it's so ... odd. Almost a disrespectful tease to the audience of an otherwise brilliantly composed movie.
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Nothing to see here, move along.
I think also the pigeon is a symbole of purity. But when purity and enclosure join together, that ends to more perplexity of a situation. Those two, were too shy and so loyal to their master, that deciding something for themselves was considered as a betrayal to their benefactor. At he end only Stevens stays, with the timid hope of escaping - like the pigeon we see at the end - procuring the liberation of his past beliefs.
Always remain a cinephil