I don't know exactly why I enjoy watching "Remains of the Day" so much that I have watched it multiple times. Is it that it strikes a chord in me, or makes me nostalgic for something that I never knew, or maybe it's just the beauty of the film... I watched it the other night for the first time in several years, and it made me realize once again what a touching movie it is. I have read the novel, as well, but I think this is a case in which the movie is almost better than the book. The pairing of Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, as Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton, is exceptional, their characters are beautifully portrayed. Even with no dialogue between them, so much is conveyed by their looks and actions. Hopkins is the epitome of what a perfect English butler should be, in thought, word, and deed, even though the world is changing around him, and Thompson's professional and spirited housekeeper is struggling to control her longings for an emotional relationship with Mr. Stevens. That last scene between their characters when they meet 20 years later after so much has happened in between times, is just totally heart-wrenching to me every time I watch. Guess I'm just a sucker for lost romance! The whole feel of the film is so right--the scenes of the Oxfordshire countryside between the wars, the nobility of Darlington Hall, the beauty of the mounted foxhunters riding across the grounds, the automobiles of the 1930's, the huge dinner parties, all those period details make it such a wonderful experience. I enjoyed Hopkins & Thompson together in this one much more than in "Howard's End"--seemed a better fit for them somehow. It's also interesting to see Hugh Grant and Christopher Reeve in rather interesting supporting roles. All in all, it's a film I have enjoyed revisiting over the years.