Iris

Theatrical Release Date: 2001 12 15 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 786936178272

Studio: Miramax

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Nudity, Adult Language, Sexual Situations]

Summary: 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 na?ve 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, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null Best British Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best British Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best British Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Supporting Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Piper Heidsieck New Talent Award for Best Actor – Berlin International Film Festival Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Piper Heidsieck New Talent Award for Best Actor – Berlin International Film Festival Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – National Board of Review Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – National Board of Review Best Supporting Actor – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: ccA look at Iris
A Special Message from David Hyde Pierce
Alzheimer's Association honors Iris and Jim Broadbent

Iris

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/20/2002

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 91 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) French,English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Opening Credits: Freedom of the Mind [3:39]
2. "Talking Nonsense" [3:39]
3. Thoughts Without Words [4:11]
4. Puzzling Language [3:39]
5. "Sailing Into Darkness" [5:30]
6. A Pensive Swim [9:26]
7. Rival Suitors [6:23]
8. "The Lights Will Go Out" [6:29]
9. "When Do We Go?" [5:51]
10. In Her Own World [3:52]
11. "A Kind Word" [10:15]
12. Things Wear [6:02]
13. "Human Begins Love Each Other" [3:53]
14. End Credits [6:17]

Richie Unterberger

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, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Siobhan Hayes  Actor 
Pauline McGlynn  Actor 
Stephen Marcus  Actor 
Angela Morant  Actor 
Matilda Allsopp  Actor 
Harriet Arkwright  Actor 
Gabrielle Reidy  Actor 
Nancy Carroll  Actor 
Pauline McLynn  Actor 
Steve Edis  Actor 
Charlotte Arkwright  Actor 
Richard Eyre  Director 
Richard Eyre  Screenwriter 
Robert Fox  Producer 
James Horner  Composer (Music Score) 
Anthony Minghella  Executive Producer 
Sydney Pollack  Executive Producer 
Scott Rudin  Producer 
Harvey Weinstein  Executive Producer 
Charles Wood  Screenwriter 
Thomas Hedley, Jr.  Executive Producer 
David M. Thompson  Executive Producer 
Guy East  Executive Producer 
Judi Dench  Actor 
Kate Winslet  Actor 
Jim Broadbent  Actor 
Hugh Bonneville  Actor 
Penelope Wilton  Actor 
Juliet Aubrey  Actor 
Samuel West  Actor 
Timothy West  Actor 
Eleanor Bron  Actor 
Joan Bakewell  Actor 
Kris Marshall  Actor 
Tom Mannion  Actor 
Derek Hutchinson  Actor 
Juliet Howland  Actor 
Saira Todd  Actor 
Emma Handy  Actor 

Country: UK,USA