Iris (2001 film)

Iris
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard Eyre
Screenplay by
Based onElegy for Iris
by John Bayley
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRoger Pratt
Edited byMartin Walsh
Music byJames Horner
Production
companies
Distributed byMiramax 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
LanguageEnglish
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.

  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. ^ Peter Bradshaw (18 January 2002). "Iris". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2020.