Why does everyone care what Mr. Stevens thinks?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Remains of the Day
bregund — 10 years ago(January 23, 2016 09:47 AM)
I watched this film again last night after many years and the one thing that stood out is this recurring theme. That any of the characters should care what a butler thinks is the most obvious flaw in this film. None of the other characters are subjected to this subtle interrogation, it seems to only be there in order to continuously emphasize Stevens's passive servitude. After the tenth time, I get it already, he doesn't want to get involved. This film was good but not great.
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butaneggbert — 10 years ago(January 23, 2016 02:34 PM)
So many layers to that answer! Short version: the relationship of every other character to Mr. Stevens is key to who he is and how he functions - and it reveals a great deal about those other people.
Stevens is the lifeblood of day to day functioning of the house. Everyone relies on him, and for far more than what his job description would state.
He's his employer's most intimate acquaintance. We know from history (and human nature) that this was common between an upper-class Englishman and right-hand man. The irony is - and as is brilliantly portrayed here - it's almost entirely a one-way relationship. Darlington cares what Stevens thinks as a measure of how his own world is functioning.
Stevens is an ersatz godfather to Reginald (hence the delegation of the "birds and bees" talk to him). Reginald uses what bond he has with Stevens to garner inside knowledge - the whole drunk conversation about what's really happening between Germany and England. Who better to pump for information about what was going on in the library than the most attentive, ever-present silent observer? He knows Stevens misses nothing.
Then of course there's the gathering of cigar-smoking gents who used Stevens to prove the proletariat couldn't be trusted to govern themselves. They're the only ones who ask him the most explicit policy questions. The whole point is they don't
care
what he thinks at all - he's a punching bag, a stand-in for the ignorant masses below their own class.
You've inadvertently stumbled onto the key to his whole character - and in a sense the key to the whole movie. But it's so much deeper than "he doesn't want to get involved". That's just the beginning.
Of course Miss Kenton cares what he thinks. He's her immediate supervisor, then his near-equal colleague, and eventually someone she comes to love. Why would she NOT care what he thinks?
To the people of the pub, he's an elegant stranger in a fabulous car, clearly with tales to tell. The contradiction between the car, his claims, and his deferential nature make him intriguing to the monied pub visitor who helps him with his car.
Finally, there's the psychological draw of any cryptic, emotionally unreadable person to almost everyone: they're at once a mirror and a black hole. You can project anything onto them and mistake it for fact.
Stevens' entire life energy is devoted to being the perfect servant, to pushing down any readable humanity in service of his masters. It gives him a blank-slate veneer that would make almost anyone curious. (Ask any romantic which is the more intriguing draw: an open-faced simple heart or a dark stranger with secrets and a closed mouth. The latter - moths to a flame! We're all curious about what's withheld.)
This is why Miss Kenton tries so hard to pry his book (his interior life) out of his fist - she wants
any
entree into his private world. When she sees she's pushed to far - and that he's not willing to open the door any further - she never tries again.
Nothing to see here, move along.
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chicago85 — 10 years ago(February 29, 2016 10:47 PM)
It reminds me of Gosford Park where Helen Mirren talks about how a good servant is invisible knowing what the upstairs people want even before they do. She goes so far as to cover up for her son not revealing to him that she is his mother. Then breaking down and crying after he has left that she will never know him now.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else