Iris (2001 film)


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. 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 on December 14, 2001, and was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2002, and the United States on March 29, 2002. It grossed $16.2 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 Academy Awards. The film also picked up nominations for Dench as Best Actress and Winslet for Best Supporting Actress.

Plot

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 keeps 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, and becomes her caretaker, as his wife's mind deteriorates from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.

Cast

Iris received positive reviews from critics, with a 79% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes from a sample of 110 critics. The movie received a Metacritic score of 76 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards and nominations