Fiennes brilliant in The White Countess

Merchant-Ivory’s final collaboration, The White Countess (SPHE, €21.99) is a beautifully-shot film that serves as a fitting, though overlong finale to the duo’s work.

Set in 1930s Shanghai, Ralph Fiennes plays a blind and somewhat disillusioned US diplomat, Todd Jackson, who runs his own nightclub. Natasha Richardson is Russian émigré Countess Sofia, hired by Jackson to be his hostess.

She helps support her family by working on the side as a prostitute. Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson’s real mother, plays Sofia’s aunt, while her real aunt, Lynn Redgrave, plays her mother-in-law.

Although the film is somewhat slow, Fiennes’s performance is a joy to watch.

DramaStar Rating: 3/5.