Film Synopsis 

Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville star in the Mirage Enterprises/Robert Fox/Scott Rudin production of IRIS. Oscar winner Judi Dench and two-time Oscar nominee Kate Winslet each portray the novelist Iris Murdoch in two distinct periods of her life, with Jim Broadbent and Hugh Bonneville playing her husband John Bayley.  

Directed by Richard Eyre, IRIS tells the tender and extraordinary story of the enduring love between the novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from the romance of their early days at Oxford in the 1950s to her untimely death in 1999.  

The supporting cast includes Penelope Wilton, Juliet Aubrey, Samuel West, Timothy West and Eleanor Bron. 

IRIS is written by Richard Eyre and Charles Wood, and based on John Bayley’s memoirs, Iris: A Memoir and Elegy For Iris. It is produced by Robert Fox and Scott Rudin, and the music is composed and conducted by James Horner with solo violinist Joshua Bell. The executive producers are Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Tom Hedley, Guy East, David M. Thompson and Harvey Weinstein. 

Iris will open in New York and Los Angeles for a one week Academy Award qualifier on December 14. 

Click to View the Newly Released "IRIS" Trailer

Cast and Crew

Supporting Cast:  Penelope Wilton, Juliet Aubrey, Samuel West, Timothy West, Barbara Leigh-Hunt 
                                  and Eleanor Bron

Director:   Sir Richard Eyre

Exec  Producers:   Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Tom Hedley, Guy East, David M. Thompson,
                                   Harvey Weinstein

Producers:  Robert Fox, Scott Rudin

Prod. Co:   Miramax / Mirage Enterprises / Scott Rudin Productions / BBC Films / InterMedia Film  
                                   Equities Ltd.

Screenplay:  Richard Eyre, Charles Wood

Production Design:  Gemma Jackson

Art Direction:  David Warren

Music Score:   James Horner

Soundtrack:     http://sonyclassical.com/music/89806/

   Judi Dench (Iris Murdoch)
           "I think it was nearly three years ago when I was first approached about playing Iris.
           I've been a tremendous fan of Iris Murdoch, of her books and of her plays, and so I
           thought it would be a great challenge to take on this role. I didn't know quite how
           hard it was going to be but it wouldn't have mattered because I was very keen on the
           project. I'm terribly pleased that we've made it. We've had a really good time.
           Everybody tells you something different about what she was like and I found myself
           playing a kind of insight crossword game. It was extremely hard work, the hardest
           work I've ever done."

           "There's something about Iris's manner, and the way her words are delivered so
           precisely, that is incredibly striking. She doesn't underly or overstress words like we
           might. She uses no gestures and is totally undramatic. She just chooses the words
           that she wants and leaves it like that. That was the kind of mind she had. And in a
           way it gives you a hint of the kind of philosopher she was."

           "I think the relationship between John and Iris is really amazing. I do really think of
           this film as a love story. The two of them were curiously put together in a kind of
           wonderful miracle."

           "Jim and I worked very well together. When you're first working with someone its
           always very interesting. Not only are you trying to assimilate this person to the place
           where they ought to be but you're also sensing out the way that that person is going
           to work, or wishes to work. And so we were pretty quiet the first week or so and then
           quite suddenly we realized that we both have a kind of absurdity about us, and an
           absurdity about the way we work, too. We did match very, very well after that initial
           stint."

           "I feel very pleased that I've played Iris. I wouldn't exchange the last five weeks for
           anything. I understand Iris now. I can hear her voice all the time."

   Jim Broadbent (John Bayley)
           "I like character acting challenges so I took it on. It's a lovely, lovely script. Just
           beautiful and very carefully written, and extremely accurate in terms of the history
           that John Bayley has written about their lives. The fact that I'm playing a real person
           makes my job much more complex. The extensive contradictions that one builds up in
           a long lifetime will always be more than in a fictional character who is drawn in
           broader strokes. Creating this sort of fuller character is very exciting for me."

           "It's quite a famous relationship between John and Iris that ignited in the academic
           world of Oxford. For forty odd years they were together. John has an air of disbelief
           that he is actually with Iris. It was obviously a very enduring relationship, and happy
           by all accounts. The Alzheimer's disease is what ultimately drew them tightly together
           in a way they had never been able to before. This pure mutual dependence that is a
           result of her disease gives a purity to their relationship that hadn't been there before."

           "I think John was in total awe of her his entire life. He's totally in love with her with a
           sort of enduring surprise and passion. The excitement of just being in her presence,
           and how that balance changes for him after her illness sets in, shows how their
           relationship remains equally strong if not stronger."

           "I'd never worked with Judi before and it was really exciting and very, very
           stimulating. It was fun being with her and we definitely worked in the same way. I
           think we have a similar nose for when things don't quite seem right, or when we
           struck a false note in a scene. We both seemed to find the humor and emotion in the
           same areas."

   Robert Fox (Producer)
           "Playing Iris really puts Judi in a position where she can do everything.
           I mean she's funny, and healthy, and then sick. And she just
           does an amazing job. What she brings to the role is truly remarkable."

   Kate Winslet (Young Iris Murdoch)
           "John Bayley has written three very good books on his life with Iris that pay a lot
           of attention to the later periods in her life and their relationship throughout. I read
           those books and I did a lot of research from people who were involved with her and
           with this project. Everybody was very helpful."

           "I'm always extremely conscious of getting as close to reality as possible for the
           people who knew her and loved her. In the case of Iris Murdoch, nailing the part was
           extremely difficult. Her dialogue is so highly intelligent and complex that the night
           before filming Hugh and I would ask each other if we were having trouble memorizing
           our lines. Iris and John Bayley were on an intellectual plane that no else could really
           reach."
           "Iris and John were sort of like big children in a way which is so wonderful. It's quite
           difficult to portray how jovial and fun they were, while also allowing the undercurrents
           of their incredible intellects to bleed in and out of the story. Especially considering
           that I could never be as bright as Iris Murdoch."

           "I've watched the documentaries that were made on Iris Murdoch again and again.
           During filming I tried to watch them everyday because her style of speech pposedly
           didn't change much throughout her life. Her speech was quite posh. Sometimes she
           spoke very fast and sometimes she spoke slowly but it was always well measured and
           assured."

           "I feel really lucky to have played this part because Iris was such an interesting
           character. She was widely known to have been rampantly bisexual, and a fiercely
           intelligent philosopher who believed in truth, honesty, and being real. She wasn't the
           type of person that you could have a normal conversation with. She would pick up on
           some flippant comment in your speech and then she'd be relentless in analyzing it
           down to nothing. Its role in which I very much had to be on the ball. The one thing
           that people have said about her across the board is that she just had the most
           incredibly free spirit. A real liver of life."

           "John and Iris gave each other a great deal of strength. In many ways theirs is a true,
           true love story. I think she just found him very amusing, and challenging, and
           exciting, and fun to be with. Sort of kindred spirits you could say."

           "The movie does feel like a love story. But I was very aware at all times of the history
           of the story, and the fact that these things really did happen. I think we all tried to be
           very respectful and mindful of that history because we wanted very much to do these
           characters justice. I think its one of the best love stories I've ever read."

   Hugh Bonneville (Young John Bayley)
           "It's a challenge to portray a character who is living. It's interesting because he's such
           a vivid character and he has written so beautifully on his relationship with Iris. They
           were an extremely eccentric and vibrant couple. John's speech rhythms are so
           fascinating that I've studied tapes quite diligently in order to get them right."

           "When we first meet John he is quite gauche. Like many academics he is intensely
           intelligent yet at the same time sort of lost in his own world. John Bayley describes
           them as two rabbits living in a borough, which goes halfway towards describing their
           rather strange lifestyles. When we first find John he is naive to the ways of the world,
           and I think Iris gave him a huge amount of confidence. He always admired her
           enormously. In many ways he was a blank canvas on which Iris wrote and sketched."

           "The cruelest irony of their story is that John was always reaching out to Iris for
           reassurance and for fulfillment and in the end, due to her Alzheimers, it is Iris who
           needs John. Its crucifying for him because her need takes him to a point where he
           isn't interested in the attention anymore. She gradually becomes completely
           dependent on him yet she is never quite capable of understanding that need. This is
           one of the great ripples in their story that Richard was able to successfully explore in
           the script."

           "The whole world of sex is like a desert for him. John said in his own writing that he
           picked Iris to fall in love with because he didn't think there would be any competition
           for her because she wasn't a natural beauty, and he thought sex was totally off the
           agenda because it was her mind he was in love with. Then to discover that she not
           only had sexuality, but a voracious appetite, and numerous lovers, was a bit of shock
           to his naivete. On the other hand he accepted it because he completely adored her."

           "At one point in his writing he speaks of him and Iris growing closer and closer apart.
           Which John defined as the basis for a great marriage. John and Iris spent enormous
           amounts of time apart. She had a place in London where she often went off to work
           on her own, as did he. They simply submitted to the solitary nature of writing. I think
           the great joy of their relationships was that they just talked bollocks to each other,
           and lived in their funny little fantasy world all the time."

Miramax Press Notes  

           More Detailed Information about the Film from the Cast and Crew -- very interesting!

Articles and Reviews

     Tallahassee Democrat -- Alzheimer's tale in 'Iris' has deeper meaning -- 03/14/02

       San Francisco Chronicle -- Film merely a glimpse of great mind gone dark -- 02/24/02

      Entertainment Weekly -- Oscars Articles about DJD  

       Guardian -- Actors Go Mad for the Oscars -- 02/16/02

       Washington Post -- IRIS:  A Love Story in Glorious Full Bloom -- 02/15/02

      Guardian -- In Love with Academia -- 02/15/02

      Gold Coast Bulletin -- Working Through Life's Pain -- 02/15/02

      Miscellaneous IRIS Reviews

      Next Magazine -- Examining IRIS and Eyre's Luck of the IRIS -- 02/01/02

      The Vancouver Sun -- A  Brilliant Mind Fading -- 02/11/02

      Telegraph -- I loved her as I have loved no one else -- 01/12/02
   
      Radio Times Article -- Being Iris -- 01/19/02

      The Chicago Tribune -- The Importance of Being a Dame -- 02/03/02

      The Advocate -- Review -- Flowering Iris / Oscar, Madonna and Jim -- 02/05/02 Issue

      Weekend Australian -- True essence of author distilled with love -- 02/02/02

      The Irish Independent -- Film Review -- 01/31/02

      The Age - Dench's Iris Blooms in the Fog -- 01/27/02

      The Advocate -- Cocktails with Dame Judi -- 02/05/02 Issue

      Telegraph Article -- Love and It's Limits -- 01/18/02

      The Times of London -- Agony in Slow Fade-out -- 01/19/02

      The Times of London -- Film Choice Review -- 01/19/02

      This is London -- The Two Faces of Iris -- 01/18/02

      The Guardian -- Legend of the Fall -- 01/18/02

      The Guardian -- Murdoch, An Unlikely Liberal Icon -- 01/18/02

      Financial Times -- Exploring the Jungle of the Mind -- 01/17/02

      BBC Online Review -- Dench's Touching Elegy for Iris -- 01/14/02

      The Times Article -- This film catches the thrilling ... -- 01/14/02

      Electronic Telegraph Article -- Dame Judi in Full Bloom ... -- 01/13/02

    The Guardian Article -- Iris Through the Looking Glass -- 01/13/02  

      BBC Online - Health -- High Hopes for Alzheimer Film -- 01/12/02

      The Guardian Article -- The Obstacle Race -- by Richard Eyre -- 01/12/02

    The Times of London Article -- 
              Out of the Shadows -- by Richare Eyre -- 01/08/02

     Electronic Telegraph Article -- 
              Iris Has Been Transformed into Art -- by John Bayley -- 01/12/02

    The Times Magazine Article -- The Real Thing -- 12/29/01

    Telegraph Article -- Iris, Michael and Me -- 12/31/01

      Telegraph Article -- National Treasure -- 12/15/01

    Rotten Tomatoes Website - good source for more Iris Reviews       

      E! News Daily recently aired a brief segment about IRIS.  Included was a clip of Judi 
           filming a scene on a beach, a clip of Kate, and a sound bite from an interview with Judi.
           Host Steve Kmetko:  IRIS tells the story of famed novelist Iris Murdoch. 
               Dench makes a splash in the movie, especially when the Dame takes a dip.

          Judi: We had a very cold day in a tank, well, a couple of days. Not in a river at all. And they kept
               saying ... It was very, very, very thick with all sorts of stuff in the water, the tank. And Richard 
               said 'swim'.  And I wear lenses, and, of course, for this I couldn’t wear lenses.  So, Richard said,
               'swim down towards the photographer and touch hands with Jim'. Well, I couldn’t see a
               photographer, a camera man, I couldn’t see Jim.  It was more by luck than any judgement.

      Listen to Ebert and Roeper Review Segment  - 12/15/01

      Edinburgh News -- 12/18/01

      LA Daily News -- 12/14/01

      Variety Review -- provided by Miramax -- 12/14/01

      Shadows on the Wall -- 12/14/01

      Rolling Stone -- 12/14/01

      LA Weekly -- 12/14/01

      LA Times -- 12/14/01

     The Cranky Citic -- Iris -- 12/14/01

    New York Post -- 12/14/01
               Scenes from an Unconventional Marriage

    Newsday.com -- 12/14/01
               Portrait of a Brilliant Mind Slowly Losing It

    New Times LA -- 12/14/01
               A Closing Iris -- Novelist Iris Murdoch comes to life (and death) onscreen

Box Office Information

     Reuters, Feb. 19, 2002 -- Miramax's Iris Murdoch biopic "Iris" -- which drew acting nominations 
                for Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet -- returned over the weekend to gross
                $390,000 from 31 engagements, an impressive $12,580 per playdate. The picture previously 
                saw a small Academy-consideration run.

     BBC Online, Feb. 19, 2002 -- Iris, a BBC film based on the life of writer Iris Murdoch, was up 
                65% on last week.  Three of the movie's stars, Dame Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate
                Winslet, are up for Oscars.  It has now taken £2.2m after five weeks.
                                   The UK top ten:
                                          1. Monsters, Inc 
                                          2. Ocean's 11 
                                          3. The Lord of the Rings 
                                          4. Gosford Park 5. Shallow Hal 
                                          6. From Hell 
                                          7. Vanilla Sky 
                                          8. Harry Potter 
                                          9. Iris 
                                        10. Training Day

     Variety, Jan. 22, 2002 -- Miramax's Kate Winslet / Judi Dench starrer ``Iris'' penned a promising 
                $537,000 in its native U.K., its first try outside the U.S..

     Variety, Jan. 21, 2002 -- In its first offshore engagement, Miramax's Kate Winslet / Judi Dench 
                starrer "Iris'' posted an encouraging $359,000 Friday-Saturday in its native U.K.

     Return to "IRIS" Main Page                       The Unofficial Chronology of Dame Judi Dench's Career

         March 13, 2010