B24 Compared to the Japanese takeover of Shanghai as seen in the earlier film Empire of the Sun, this was something of a low-budget, one-or-two camera, plodding disappointment. Contemporary reviews from 2005 are apt only in terms of words of appreciation for Merchant-Ivory production values and a cast of very good (though not in this film "great") actors. While the script and characters are somewhat compelling, my interest in the story itself waned once the climax seemed foreordained.What disturbed me most, however (and I admit it is more applicable to trivia than to a critique), was the presence in a 1936 or 1937 plot of a 1941 Packard, a 1942 Dodge, and a 1948 Ford. The Packard and the Dodge are perhaps forgivable, but not the Ford.As noted, the 1987 Empire of the Sun had most such details right, even if the characters were insufferable, unlike those of the White Countess.

didiermustntdie one of the family members supposes to be a princess, I call it a joke, even though the story is fictional. the Russian refugees were actually largely lower class "white" Russians from Russian far east. the story is made up by a Japanese writer ,so I can understand why japs are given quite many undeserved dignities. but in fact japs were never so generous nor powerful.actually the west didn't take japan seriously at the time they invaded shanghai, the largest foreign community in china. both Chinese and whites are portrayed OK, white slightly degraded. seem like although no apparent race mixing, there isn't any racial tension in 30s, .but I heard during the time, Chinese weren't allowed to enter concessions,at least not so easily..just like happy tourists....my 2 main concerns about the film are 1, the french influence is underrated.before Japanese came, shanghai was actually run by french.but they don't give a single role to frenchmen.OK, i know the french were/are very corrupt leftists, so the place became quite chaotic, and relatively less conservative compared to British owned hong Kong, so the family want to move to hongkong,that is reasonable..2, the Jewish thing, according to my knowledge, jews who escaped Germany occupied Europe were mostly rich people, they become quite influential wherever they arrived..the only untouchable citizen in shanghai I heard were not Brits, not yanks,not even Germans but jews.. it's said on wikipedia that about 10000 jews during WWII in shanghai and all of them survived and returned to Israel.. on wikipedia, the only group that referred as being treated differently were jews. surprised? when I saw the Jewish old man being insulted several time in the movie, I laughed terribly. even in shanghai, they couldn't forget to victimize jews..(I swear I even saw beautiful Natasha put an embarrassed grin on her face when the fisherman shouts"Jewish scum!".)BTW, Macao is safe because protugual owns brazil which had about 1 million Japanese, some liberal moron says Macao is probably better than hongkong i agree.except for the things I said. this movie is good enough. similar feeling to the "remains of the days", Natasha's character is very good woman,although lost dignity, as the movie implies she actually only sells herself very occasionally when really in need for money ,far from everyday escort.we saw her reject several good enough potential clients oh, well, the Russian family is also cartoonish villains..even though there are so many from liberal political agenda, I moderately enjoyed this movie.there should be more movies like this showing whites are weak and in danger of non white threat honestly, there are too many "white supremacism" in movies now-days..the saddest thing is both Natasha and producer are impossible to read my genuine opinions now..

David Tuffley (tuffley-1) The poignancy of this movie outweighs any shortcomings in the directorial department. I found myself immersed in the milieu of 1930's ShangHai, a place and time I had only read of and subsequently wondered about.The real strength of this movie is the accessibility with which powerful emotion is portrayed. I found I had real empathy for the characters.The characters were played superbly by one of the most pedigreed casts I've seen in a while.The pace was slow, but measured and well-suited to the plot.Ralph Fiennes was a convincing lead -- the image of him reminds me of TS Eliot mixed with Rick Blaine (Casablanca).Natasha Richardson is brilliant in this role. Understated and quite believable.All in all a beautiful, other worldly movie, and not for the faint-hearted.

[email protected] POSSIBLE SPOILERSLike most Merchant-Ivory films, "The White Countess" is set in an exotic location (in this case Shanghai in the mid-1930's on the verge of the Japanese invasion), and it proceeds at a leisurely pace. Again, like most Merchant-Ivory films, it has an excellent cast: Ralph Fiennes as a blind American ex-diplomat, Natasha Richardson as the title character, and Lynn Redgrave and Vanessa Redgrave as members of her Russian émigré family who are ashamed of the fact that she is earning money (which they are glad enough to accept) as a "dance hall girl" and presumed prostitute. The problem here is that the leisurely pace slows to a crawl and the events leading up to the Japanese takeover are observed at a distance through the interaction of Fiennes with a Japanese diplomat/spy/advance man played by Hiroyuki Sanada. Fiennes has opened his own bar/gathering place with race track winnings and named it The White Countess after the hostess he has hired away from another establishment. Sanada's character -- Matsuda -- helps Fiennes create the political tension that he considers necessary for his place to be successful. Although they are the principals, neither Fiennes nor Richardson distinguish themselves particularly, and Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave are strictly secondary characters. Sanada is, in my opinion, the most successful actor in the entire movie. That's another way of saying that the main story is utterly unconvincing and the principal actors seem merely to have gone through the motions. Neither Fiennes nor Richardson made me care about what is happening to their characters. The Japanese enter the city, the émigrés flee to an undetermined fate. Perhaps the book was more engrossing.