In translating a novel into film, the primary perspective is often altered, and that is the case with The Remains of the Day. In the novel, Stevens's voice is dominant, and much of the exposition is provided through his musings about his tasks and his vocation. Although Stevens is still the main character in the film, almost equal weight is given to Miss Kenton. At times, his thoughts are put into the form of a letter to her, so she reads the ideas rather than having him just ponder. While these changes help the dramatic quality of the film, the shift away from Stevens turns the story into a thwarted romance and dulls the edge of the author’s social critique.
An even more important change is the reduction of the political critique. Salman Rushdie has noted that compared to the film,
Ishiguro's novel is less equivocal, its portrait of...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
the British aristocracy's flirtation with Nazism untinged by sentiment.
Stevens continues in service for decades after learning that Lord Darlington is a Nazi collaborator. At the end of the novel, the now-retired butler admits that he was wrong and believes he wasted much of his life.
Although Stevens paints himself as a misguided innocent, the author conveys that it is not adequate simply to consider Stevens a dupe. Even as he claims to have trusted Lord Darlington, it seems disingenuous to believe one can cast off one’s moral responsibility:
I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really, one has to ask oneself, what dignity is there in that?
While the film makes it seem that Stevens' primary loss was not to pursue a normal life, embodied in marriage to Miss Kenton, the book reveals that what Stevens really lost was his integrity, or himself.
The film version hosts Anthony Hopkins as the main character, the butler, Stevens and Emma Thompson as the estate's housekeeper, Miss Kenton.
As is true with most books, the action varies becoming slow and fast as needed, but always revealing greater detail into a character's thoughts and motives than the film version is able to do.
It is no different with this film. The attraction and sexual tension between the butler and housekeeper of Darlington Hall is much more obvious in the book--especially toward the end after the butler has visited her and her family and he is forced to think on the possibility that she may have been his wife and mother to his own children.
Both the film and movie are wonderfully told in flashbacks and memories of Stevens.
In the book, Miss Kenton's marriage has held and she is enjoying grandchildren, although she suggests in her letter to Stevens that her marriage is troubled. In the film, her marriage has failed.