Iris (2001 film)

2001 biographical film directed by Richard Eyre

Iris

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Richard Eyre
Screenplay by|

* Richard Eyre
* Charles Wood

Based on| Elegy for Iris
by John Bayley
Produced by|

* Robert Fox
* Scott Rudin

Starring|

* Judi Dench
* Kate Winslet
* Jim Broadbent
* Hugh Bonneville

Cinematography| Roger Pratt
Edited by| Martin Walsh
Music by| James Horner

Production
companies

* Miramax Films
* BBC Films
* Intermedia Films
* Mirage Enterprises
* Fox Iris Productions

Distributed by| Miramax Films (through Buena Vista International in the United Kingdom and Ireland)[1]

Release dates

* 14 December 2001 (2001-12-14) (Los Angeles)
* 18 January 2002 (2002-01-18) (United Kingdom)
* 29 March 2002 (2002-03-29) (United States)

Running time

| 90 minutes[1]
Countries|

* United Kingdom
* United States

Language| English
Budget| $5.5 million
Box office| $16.2 million[2]

Iris is a 2001 biographical drama film about novelist Iris Murdoch and her relationship with her husband John Bayley. Directed by Richard Eyre from a screenplay he co-wrote with Charles Wood, the film is based on Bayley's 1999 memoir Elegy for Iris.[3] Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent portray Murdoch and Bayley during the later stages of their marriage, while Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville appear as the couple in their younger years. The film contrasts the start of their relationship, when Murdoch was an outgoing, dominant individual compared to the timid and scholarly Bayley, and their later life, when Murdoch was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and tended to by a frustrated Bayley in their North Oxford home in Charlbury Road. The beach scenes were filmed at Southwold in Suffolk, one of Murdoch's favourite haunts.

The film had its world premiere in Los Angeles on 14 December 2001, followed by a theatrical release in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2002 and in the United States on 29 March. It grossed $16 million on a $5.5 million budget and received positive reviews, with praise towards the performances. For his role as Bayley, Broadbent won Best Supporting Actor at the 74th Academy Awards, with Dench (Best Actress) and Winslet (Best Supporting Actress) also receiving nominations.

## Plot

[edit]

When the young Iris Murdoch meets fellow student John Bayley at Somerville College, Oxford, he is a naive virgin easily flummoxed by her libertine spirit, arch personality, and obvious artistic talent. Decades later, little has changed and the couple keep house, with John doting on his more famous wife. When Iris begins experiencing forgetfulness and dementia, however, the devoted John struggles with hopelessness and frustration.[3] He becomes her carer, as his wife's mind deteriorates from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.[4]

## Cast

[edit]

* Judi Dench as Iris Murdoch[3]
* Kate Winslet as young Iris[3]
* Jim Broadbent as John Bayley[3]
* Hugh Bonneville as young John[3]
* 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

## Reception

[edit]

The performances of Judi Dench and Kate Winslet garnered widespread critical acclaim, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 79% of 110 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A solidly constructed drama, Iris is greatly elevated by the strength of its four lead performances."[5] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[6]

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Award  | Category  | Recipient  | Result

|
|
|

Academy Awards[7] | Best Actress | Judi Dench | Nominated
Best Supporting Actor | Jim Broadbent | Won
Best Supporting Actress | Kate Winslet | Nominated
Awards Circuit Community Awards  | Best Actor in a Supporting Role  | Jim Broadbent  | Nominated
Best Actress in a Supporting Role  | Kate Winslet  | Nominated
Berlin International Film Festival[8] | Golden Bear | Richard Eyre | Nominated
New Talent Award (Actor)  | Hugh Bonneville | Won
British Academy Film Awards[9] | Outstanding British Film | Robert Fox, Scott Rudin and Richard Eyre  | Nominated
Best Actor in a Leading Role | Jim Broadbent  | Nominated
Best Actress in a Leading Role | Judi Dench  | Won
Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Hugh Bonneville  | Nominated
Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Kate Winslet  | Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay | Richard Eyre and Charles Wood | Nominated
Christopher Awards | Feature Film  | Won
Critics' Choice Awards[10] | Best Supporting Actor | Jim Broadbent  | Nominated
European Film Awards[11] | Best Actor | Hugh Bonneville  | Nominated
Jim Broadbent  | Nominated
Best Actress | Judi Dench  | Nominated
Kate Winslet  | Won
Evening Standard British Film Awards | Best Actress  | Kate Winslet (Also for Enigma and Quills) | Won
Golden Globe Awards[12] | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Judi Dench  | Nominated
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | Jim Broadbent  | Won
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Kate Winslet  | Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards | Best Documentary Poster  | Nominated
Humanitas Prize[13] | Feature Film Category | Richard Eyre and Charles Wood  | Won
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards[14] | Best Actress  | Judi Dench  | Nominated
Best Supporting Actress  | Kate Winslet  | Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards | British Actress of the Year | Judi Dench  | Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[15] | Best Supporting Actor | Jim Broadbent (Also for Moulin Rouge!) | Won
Best Supporting Actress | Kate Winslet  | Won
Nastro d'Argento | Best Song  | Moni Ovadia | Nominated
National Board of Review Awards[16] | Best Supporting Actor | Jim Broadbent (Also for Moulin Rouge!) | Won
Special Recognition For Excellence In Filmmaking  | Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards[17] | Best Actor | Jim Broadbent  | Runner-up
New York Film Critics Online Awards[18] | Best Actress | Judi Dench  | Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards  | Best Actress in a Leading Role  | Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role  | Jim Broadbent  | Nominated
Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards | Best Foreign Actress  | Judi Dench  | Nominated
Satellite Awards[19] | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Nominated
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Jim Broadbent  | Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Kate Winslet  | Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards[20] | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role | Judi Dench  | Nominated
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role | Jim Broadbent  | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Iris (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 13 December 2001. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
2. ^ "Iris (2001)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. 17 May 2002. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
3. ^ a b c d e f Peter Bradshaw (18 January 2002). "Iris". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
4. ^ "Iris". TimeOut. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
5. ^ "Iris (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes.
6. ^ "Iris (2001)". Metacritic.
7. ^ "The 74th Academy Awards (2002) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
8. ^ "PRIZES & HONOURS 2002". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
9. ^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 2002". BAFTA. 2002. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
10. ^ "The BFCA Critics' Choice Awards :: 2001". Broadcast Film Critics Association. 11 January 2002. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
11. ^ "EFA Night 2002". European Film Awards. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
12. ^ "Iris – Golden Globes". HFPA. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
13. ^ "Past Winners & Nominees". Humanitas Prize. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
14. ^ "1997 Sierra Award Winners". 13 December 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
15. ^ "The Annual 27th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
16. ^ "2001 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
17. ^ "2001 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
18. ^ "NYFCO AWARDS 2001-2019". New York Film Critics Online. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
19. ^ "International Press Academy website – 2002 6th Annual SATELLITE Awards". Archived from the original on 13 February 2008.
20. ^ "The 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2016.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Kalpaklı, Fatma (December 2017). "Representation of Old Age and Pain in Iris". Journal of Narrative and Language Studies. 5 (9): 65–72\. ISSN 2148-4066.

## External links

[edit]

* Iris at IMDb
* Iris at Box Office Mojo
* Iris at Rotten Tomatoes
* Iris at Metacritic
* Iris at Literary Fiction, BellaOnline

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Richard Eyre

* The Cherry Orchard (1981)
* The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
* Loose Connections (1985)
* Tumbledown (1988)
* Iris (2001)
* Rockaby (2002)
* Stage Beauty (2004)
* Notes on a Scandal (2006)
* The Other Man (2008)
* "Henry IV, Part I and Part II" (The Hollow Crown) (2012)
* The Dresser (2015)
* The Children Act (2017)
* King Lear (2018)
* Allelujah (2022)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template