Iris **** (2001, Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville) – Classic Movie Review 1695

Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent are heartbreaking in co-writer/director Richard Eyre’s sterling 2001 biopic of acclaimed British author Iris Murdoch. The film chronicles her life from her time at Oxford, where she met the love of her life, all the way up to her final years.

Dench is wonderfully moving as Iris, tragically afflicted in old age by Alzheimer’s disease and Broadbent’s just as touching, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as John Bayley, her protective, devoted, loving partner. Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville are ideal as their younger selves.

There were also Oscar nominations for Dench as Best Actress and Winslet for Best Supporting Actress.

The film also features Penelope Wilton, Eleanor Bron, Angela Morant, Siobhan Hayes, Juliet Aubrey, Kris Marshall, Joan Bakewell and Samuel West.

Charles Wood co-writes with Eyre, basing their screenplay on John Bayley’s memoirs A Memoir and Elegy for Iris.

Iris was premiered on 14 December 2001, and released in the UK on 18 January 2002 and the US on 29 March 2002, grossing $16.2 million on a $5.5 million budget.

The beach scenes are filmed at Southwold in Suffolk, one of Murdoch’s favourites.

The cast are Judi Dench as Iris Murdoch, Kate Winslet as young Iris, Jim Broadbent as John Bayley, Hugh Bonneville as young John, Penelope Wilton as Janet Stone, Juliet Aubrey as young Janet, Timothy West as Maurice, Samuel West as young Maurice, Siobhan Hayes as Checkout girl, Kris Marshall as Dr Gudgeon, Eleanor Bron, Angela Morant, and Joan Bakewell.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1695

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