Genre: Romance, Drama
Plot: Set in Shanghai in the late 1930s, this is the story of the relationship between a disillusioned former US diplomat and a refugee White Russian countess reduced to a sordid life in the city's bars.Todd Jackson (mid-40s), once an American diplomat filled with idealism, has lost his sight several years earlier, and is now languishing in Shanghai's grand hotels and elite gentlemen's clubs, a burnt-out case, He has become bitterly disillusioned by realpolitik and the seemingly unavoidable nature of war and conflict. He is, moreover, deeply bereaved by the deaths of his wife and children - victims of violent events in the political turmoil of 1930s China that also robbed him of his sight. As our film begins, we find him trying to retreat into a smaller, more controllable world by way of an ambition he has always secretly nurtured: to create here, in perhaps the world's most licentious, glittering and sordid port, the perfect bar. After countless hours spent critically examining dive after dive in the city's pleasure districts, Jackson has become a connoisseur of decadence. And one day, after a chance meeting with Matsuda - a mysterious Japanese who appears to share Jackson's refined eye for the beauty of low-life establishments - Jackson gambles his savings on a horse, wins, and
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 ...The White Countess might have been something really special, a fitting close to Merchant's career. Instead the only thing special about it is Christopher Doyle and Yiu-Fai Lai's luminous cinematography and the art direction. It's a beautiful movie to look at, but it should have been so much more.  --PAM GRADY (Reel.com)
The acting, however is superb. Ivory has a brilliant cast and he knows how to get the most out of them. This isn't his best, but it's worth a look anyway.  --Eric Lurio
It is a bummer because a lot of talented people put a lot of time and effort in “The White Countess” but the nicest thing you can say about the final product is that it is slightly better than “Havana.” --Peter Sobczynski (eFilmCritic.com)
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| Directed by |
James Ivory
The Remains of the Day, A Room with a View, Howards End |
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| This is a film that requires patience as it wends its way. 7/10 --Tony Medley (TonyMedley.com)
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