Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The White Countess
2005

Director: James Ivory
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Hiroyuki Sanada

The final Merchant Ivory production attempts to emulate Casablanca but fails miserably. The story is set in Shanghai in 1937 where an American ex-diplomat wants to employ a Russian Countess in exile as the centerpiece of his new restaurant. The diplomat is both physically and symbolically blind, and the countess supports her family from hell as a prostitute, although we never see her do anything beyond dancing. If their dreary and overlong story is supposed to be romantic, I must be dead inside because I didn't feel a thing. Ralph Fiennes is usually reliable, but this time his character is unbearable. The man is full of self-loathing and can't even seem to stand up straight.