Anthony Hopkins's performance is a challenge in that he must be something so specifically, yet must be more than that, despite also in a way being just that. This as we find Hopkins as the butler Mr. Stevens who is truly the gentleman's gentleman in the purest sense. A man who prides himself as a butler and performs his duty to what he believes to be with expert precision. We see him as such and there is something within Hopkins's performance that is remarkable in this presentation of manner. This sort of control is a presence of being powerful in a very submissive way. This as he speaks towards granting the duties to different employees and speaking the rules of the house, there is a quiet but exact force Hopkins finds in his delivery and the calm conviction of his eyes. He's not a man who really has a great deal of power, however within his realm he carries a odd kind of strength within the idea of consistency within his servitude. This as there is a sense of the man being so within his professional ability that he does have an odd ability within him, if only to serve.
Hopkins's portrayal is essentially as a man who has so effectively built this state, that it carries itself within the man at all times. This as we see him meet with the new housekeeper, Sally Kenton(Emma Thompson) and interact with her, who should theoretically be his friend of some kind if not more, there is the same exact direct calm of the butler. This as Hopkins portrays at the same time the strict manner as he speaks with that specific directness of avoiding emotion by being as up front and impartial about matters as possible. This extends even in his relationship with his father, who is also a butler. The two men who speak to each other never have a real father and son, though Hopkins's performance really is a bit of subtle brilliance. This as the relationship isn't *exactly* like the rest of it. This as in the most minor of manner changes there is an internalized sense of the relationship. Hopkins isn't quite the same way, he's very close mind you, but it is the brilliance of Hopkins's performance that he isn't exactly that.
I think worth mentioning is the one comic moment that sort of pushes Stevens from his state when his Lord asks him to tell his godson about carnal nature. Hopkins's reaction first to the request is actually kind of hilarious in the befuddlement he expresses upon the suggestion. This only bettered by his attempt to speak towards the matters which he speaks with a straining awkwardness. Still again, maintaining that attempted dignity, however even that wanes just a bit more in the strange situation.Contrasting that, though within a similar sense, is within the sequence of the death of his father where Stevens defers towards keeping to a dinner of his lord rather than staying to hear his father's final testament. Hopkins's work though is something quite fascinating, in this display of basically discrete emotion. This as Hopkins's reaction ever so quietly reveals a man who is heartbroken over his dying father, his mouth just being agape for a moment, a minor expression of distress, before returning his butler's manner in order to maintain protocol in what has been his life.
The film tells the story of the progression of the past career of Stevens with the housekeeper Ms. Kenton, and the present, after she's long left and Stevens is left with a new employer. In these scenes Hopkins is great as we see Stevens outside of his existence as a butler and the change in that. He's still a repressed man but a different kind of repressed man. This as we see him stop in a bar, and Hopkins's exceptional in the scene. This in portraying this ounce pride and even just a hint of bluster as he notes his interaction in international affairs in a strictly "unofficial way". There is still a kind of hesitation but Hopkins's wonderful in the way he accentuates the man taking the moment for once. This in stark contrast to when we see Stevens actually being asked for his opinion in the past by a condescending official. Hopkins portrays in this moment the butler's invisibility, as there is no comment, no feeling as he has no comment on any issue that the man brings up. In this moment reflecting the gentleman's gentleman, who really does nothing but serve somehow seeming even more invisible than he usually is.
The crux of the film though is Stevens's relationship with Ms. Kenton in both the past and the present. This as she obviously loves him and he does love her, but Stevens is Stevens. What is exceptional though again is Hopkins is this man of no importance, but so very human within this man. We see this most strikingly in this relationship. This as we see Hopkins's work that really fashions a different language of emotion, that strikes to honest emotion, but within the funnel of this man designed by society and position. This when Stevens defends himself to Ms. Kenton over some position, Hopkins in just the slightly emphatic emphasis on the words is actually when Stevens is saying the most about himself. We see this as well when she presses him regarding his hiring of a certain kind of woman. This as Hopkins tries to hold back a smile, and makes dismissive, yet almost blithely spoken remarks, we see a deeply embarrassed Stevens, even if again he is even barely smiling. The most important though being when she presses him in an attempt to push him out of his state. When later she announces to him she getting married, and Stevens doesn't react beyond basic pleasantries, she begins to insult him. Hopkins's reaction is quietly heartbreaking this as Stevens still maintains the grace to not react, yet there is a pain in his eyes from it, that would seem nothing to another man but is so much to Stevens. This followed by an earnest apology from her, and again Stevens doesn't break, but in the way Hopkins delivers Stevens saying how he forgot her words it is with an intense bitterness. This is Stevens angry, but again how Stevens gets angry. This most profound moment of this approach though is found in two essential moments. One where Ms. Kenton catches him reading a book, which she thinks is scandalous but is in fact just a romantic novel. Hopkins's is outstanding in this scene in his physical work. This as he becomes frozen and broken, a full emotional breakdown as Stevens's world is pierced, at least an emotional breakdown for Stevens. This is matched again by Stevens meeting with Ms. Kenton, after she's married and divorced, and Stevens may have some idea of revealing himself. Of course Stevens never says this but Hopkins's performs it. This as he's listening to her, and she notes she won't be leaving to come with Stevens to the estate again, Hopkins's face falls just a bit, only a bit, but in that is the fall of a heartbroken man. I will say this is a performance that I think I simply didn't pay enough attention to the first time. This as it is a notable achievement by Hopkins, as his work is almost entirely in the margins, and in the margins he discovers a tragic portrait of a man lost within his own repressions.
3 comments:
A 4, 5/5 from me. I liked him a lot and I liked the movie too, though the whole nazi thing should have been made clearer, but maybe I didn't get it because I wasn't paying attention in some parts.
I would have given him even lesser then that...no fan of that period normal acting Hopkins used to do.
Well, I barely remember his performance. I think I liked him more.
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