Main Cast: Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton
Release Year: 2001
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Based on a pair of memoirs by her husband John Bayley, this biographical portrait of writer Iris Murdoch stars both Judi Dench and Kate Winslet as the philosophical author at different stages of her life. When the young Iris (Winslet) meets fellow student Bayley (Hugh Bonneville) at Oxford, he's a naïve virgin easily flummoxed by her libertine spirit, arch personality, and obvious artistic talent. Decades later, little has changed as the couple (now played by Dench and Jim Broadbent) keeps house, with John doting on his more famous wife. When Iris begins experiencing forgetfulness and dementia, however, the ever-doltish but devoted John struggles with hopelessness and frustration to become her caretaker, as his wife's mind deteriorates from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. Iris earned a slew of Supporting Actor awards for Broadbent, including recognition from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and National Board of Review. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Richard Eyre's film is a straightforward drama of both the final and early courtship stages of the marriage between famed British novelist and intellectual Iris Murdoch and John Bayley. The prime, mildly unusual element, perhaps, is the alternation between two time periods, the principal scenes showing their relationship in old age as Murdoch is ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, the rest shown in flashbacks to the days in which they first met and their romance flowered. Since it's cinematically conventional, if highly accomplished, the film relies upon its acting to lift it above the ordinary, and on that count it does deliver. Jim Broadbent was justly acclaimed for his portrayal of the older Bayley, befuddled and taxed by his wife's decline, occasionally even prone to anger, but never flagging in his love, even when her verbal coherence has all but disappeared. Just as good, however, are the performances by Judi Dench as the older Murdoch (convincingly changing from esteemed, erudite literary icon to the nearly helpless and witless) and Hugh Bonneville as the stuttering, inexperienced younger Bayley, his reticence overcome by his infatuation with Murdoch. This isn't the place to learn much about Murdoch's writing; the narratives occur in the periods around the publication of her first and last books, with nothing on the intervening decades. There are her many books for that if you want to investigate further, of course, and Iris is not so much a docudrama of a life as a sympathetic but realistic look at the final stages of a marriage ended by tragic illness, as well as the struggle for dignity in the face of inevitable loss and death. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Movie Guide
Juliet Aubrey - Younger Janet; Samuel West - Young Maurice; Timothy West - Old Maurice; Eleanor Bron - College Principal; Joan Bakewell - TV Presenter; Kris Marshall - Dr. Gudeon; Tom Mannion - Neurologist; Derek Hutchinson - Postman; Juliet Howland - Emma Stone; Saira Todd - Phillida Stone; Emma Handy - Policewoman; Stephen Marcus - Taxi Driver; Pauline McLynn - Maureen; Angela Morant - Hostess; Siobhan Hayes - Check-out girl; Gabrielle Reidy - Tricia; Matilda Allsopp - Little Stone; Charlotte Arkwright - Young Phillida Stone; Harriet Arkwright - Young Emma Stone; Steve Edis - Pianist; Pauline McGlynn - Maureen; Nancy Carroll - BBC PA
Credit
David Warren - Art Director, Celestia Fox - Casting, Jane Gibson - Choreography, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Martin Harrison - First Assistant Director, Richard Eyre - Director, Martin Walsh - Editor, Anthony Minghella - Executive Producer, Sydney Pollack - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Thomas Hedley, Jr. - Executive Producer, David M. Thompson - Executive Producer, Guy East - Executive Producer, Lisa Westcott - Hair Styles, Tom Elgood - Location Manager, Michael Dreyer - Line Producer, James Horner - Composer (Music Score), Julyce Monbleaux - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kate Benton - Makeup, Gillian Elisa Thomas - Makeup, Lisa Westcott - Makeup, Buxton Jayne - Makeup, Julie Dartnell - Makeup, Antonia Kruger - Makeup, Lesley Smith - Makeup, Jane Walker - Makeup, Paul Bond - Camera Operator, Gemma Jackson - Production Designer, Roger Pratt - Cinematographer, Ti Porter - Production Manager, Robert Fox - Producer, Scott Rudin - Producer, Jim Greenhorn - Production Sound, Trisha Edwards - Set Designer, The Mill - Special Effects, Tom Sayers - Sound Editor, Carly Harrop - Stunts, Lee Millhan - Stunts, David Ware - Stunts, Peter Notley - Special Effects Supervisor, Richard Eyre - Screenwriter, Charles Wood - Screenwriter, Nick Schlesinger - Second Unit Director Of Photography, AI Animals - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Paul Almond - Unit Publicist, Sarah Clark - Unit Publicist, Clive Coote - Unit Publicist, International Publicity - Unit Publicist, MacDonald & Rutter - Unit Publicist, Chuck Finch - Gaffer, Colin Manning - Grip, Keith Manning - Grip, Andrew Glen - Music Editor, Louise Seymour - Post Production Coordinator, Stephen Barker - Post Production Supervisor, Mel Claus - Production Coordinator, Tom Pleydell-Pearce - Properties Master, Nicolas Le Messurier - Re-Recording Mixer, Anthony Cleal - Re-Recording Mixer, Mark Sheffield - Re-Recording Mixer, Cathy Doubleday - Script Supervisor, Finn McGrath - Second Assistant Director, Glenn Freemantle - Supervising Sound Editor, Gillian Dodders - ADR Editor, Charlie Cobb - Art Department Assistant, Nina Ross - Art Department Assistant, Paul Inglis - Assistant Art Director, Nicole Young - Assistant Costumer Designer, Kate Benton - Assistant Hair, Gillian Elisa Thomas - Assistant Hair, Buxton Jayne - Assistant Hair, Julie Dartnell - Assistant Hair, Antonia Kruger - Assistant Hair, Jane Walker - Assistant Hair, Nick Williams - Assistant Location Manager, Rebecca Chambers - Assistant Location Manager, Alex Johnson - Casting Assistant, Liam Flavell - Casting Associate, Rebekah Griffiths - Casting Associate, Kristy Wilkinson - Casting Associate, Gillian Dodders - Dialogue Editor, Perry Cullen - Electrician, Simon Lucas - Electrician, Michael White - Electrician, Steve Maguire - First Assistant Editor, Paula Boram - Foley Artist, Felicity Cottrell - Foley Artist, Matt Grime - Foley Editor, Maurice Landsberger - Production Accountant, Joanie Blaikie - Production Executive, Jane Hawley - Production Executive, Howard Weaver - Scenic Artist, Pippa Marks - Storyboard Artist, Jane Clark - Storyboard Artist, John Bayley - Book Author
