Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Iris

  • 20012001
  • RR
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
18K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
11,212
544
Kate Winslet and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
Trailer
Play trailer1:15
2 Videos
34 Photos
BiographyDramaRomance
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
18K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
11,212
544
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Richard Eyre
    • Writers
      • John Bayley(books "Iris: A Memoir" and "Elegy for Iris")
      • Richard Eyre(screenplay)
      • Charles Wood(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Judi Dench
      • Jim Broadbent
      • Kate Winslet
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Richard Eyre
    • Writers
      • John Bayley(books "Iris: A Memoir" and "Elegy for Iris")
      • Richard Eyre(screenplay)
      • Charles Wood(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Judi Dench
      • Jim Broadbent
      • Kate Winslet
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 152User reviews
    • 84Critic reviews
    • 76Metascore
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 14 wins & 31 nominations total

    Videos2

    Iris (2001)
    Trailer 1:15
    Iris (2001)
    Iris (2001)
    Trailer 1:11
    Iris (2001)

    Photos34

    Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville in Iris (2001)
    Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville in Iris (2001)
    Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Kate Winslet in Iris (2001)
    Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville in Iris (2001)
    Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
    Judi Dench in Iris (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Judi Dench
    Judi Dench
    • Iris Murdoch
    Jim Broadbent
    Jim Broadbent
    • John Bayley
    Kate Winslet
    Kate Winslet
    • Young Iris Murdoch
    Hugh Bonneville
    Hugh Bonneville
    • Young John Bayley
    Eleanor Bron
    Eleanor Bron
    • Principal
    Angela Morant
    Angela Morant
    • Hostess
    Penelope Wilton
    Penelope Wilton
    • Janet Stone
    Siobhan Hayes
    Siobhan Hayes
    • Check-Out Girl
    Juliet Aubrey
    Juliet Aubrey
    • Young Janet Stone
    Joan Bakewell
    • BBC Presenter
    Nancy Carroll
    • BBC PA
    Kris Marshall
    Kris Marshall
    • Dr. Gudgeon
    Tom Mannion
    • Neurologist
    Derek Hutchinson
    Derek Hutchinson
    • Postman
    Samuel West
    Samuel West
    • Young Maurice
    • (as Sam West)
    Saira Todd
    • Phillida Stone
    Juliet Howland
    Juliet Howland
    • Emma Stone
    Charlotte Arkwright
    • Young Phillida Stone
    • Director
      • Richard Eyre
    • Writers
      • John Bayley(books "Iris: A Memoir" and "Elegy for Iris")
      • Richard Eyre(screenplay)
      • Charles Wood(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Jude
    6.9
    Jude
    Quills
    7.3
    Quills
    Hideous Kinky
    6.0
    Hideous Kinky
    Notes on a Scandal
    7.4
    Notes on a Scandal
    Holy Smoke
    5.8
    Holy Smoke
    Enigma
    6.4
    Enigma
    Little Children
    7.5
    Little Children
    Heavenly Creatures
    7.3
    Heavenly Creatures
    Romance & Cigarettes
    6.2
    Romance & Cigarettes
    The Reader
    7.6
    The Reader
    5.9
    Plunge: The Movie
    In the Shadow of Iris
    6.1
    In the Shadow of Iris

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This is the second movie to have two actresses nominated for an Academy Award for playing the same role in the same movie. The first was Titanic (1997). In both movies, Kate Winslet played the younger version in the dual-nominee role.
    • Goofs
      When John gets his coat caught against the chair at the pub, a boom mic can be seen in the mirror behind him.
    • Quotes

      Iris Murdoch: Education doesn't make you happy. And what is freedom? We don't become happy just because we are free, if we are. Or because we have been educated, if we have. But because education may be the means by which we realize we are happy. It opens our eyes, our ears. Tells use where delights are lurking. Convinces us that there is only one freedom of any importance whatsoever: that of the mind. And give us the assurance, the confidence, to walk the path our mind, our educated mind, offers.

    • Connections
      Featured in A Look at Iris (2001)
    • Soundtracks
      The Lark in the Clear Air
      Music: Traditional tune: Caisleán U, Néill

      Lyrics by Samuel Ferguson (about 1850)

    User reviews152

    Review
    Top review
    Very difficult to put a life on screen but works very well as a look at Alzheimers
    Iris Murdock was an author and a shining light within the literary community in England. As an older woman she holds the same enthusiasm but is gradually being given over to the effects of Alzheimers. Her husband, John, tries to cope watching his wife slip away while he remembers how things were when they were young and falling in love.

    I knew of this film due to Broadbent rightly taking the Oscar for it (with an exclamation of `stone the crows!') but I noticed it wasn't really in the running for anything else and never got round to seeing it. Seeing it now I am in two minds as to whether it works or not - I think it depends on what you take the film's aim to be. As a story about Iris herself I didn't think it really worked. It told me very little about her and didn't give me much to work with in regards her character or her relations when she was younger. We are given images and scenes from Iris and John's youth but I never felt that I ever really connected with who they were at that young age. The stuff with them as an elderly couple works well but again it could have been any elderly couple and it made no difference to me that Iris was a writer or any woman.

    What works excellent is the portrait of an elderly couple struggling with the effects of Alzheimer's on their lives - hers as a sufferer and his as one watching his wife vanish day by day. I was very moved by all of that side of the film and found some of it very hard to watch. Most of this is due to Broadbent and it is this that he won his Oscar for. I felt his pain throughout the film and it was intense considering what a normal cheerful old man he played. Dench is excellent and her portrayal of Iris is very strong in terms of being an Alzheimers sufferer but not so much as a character I'm meant to learn about. The playing of both Winslet and Bonneville is good but I came away with the feeling that they were just assigned to do impressions of their senior co-stars; they don't manage to shed light on the past very much but they are good background.

    Overall this film is not great if you are expecting to learn about Iris the author. However a film about Alzheimers it excels and is well worth seeing. Broadbent is wonderful and deserved his Oscar - his pain and his loss is so very real throughout the film that it is impossible not to feel something even if the film doesn't manage to do great development with the characters.
    helpful•29
    5
    • bob the moo
    • Dec 21, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 29, 2002 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch
    • Filming locations
      • Southwold, Suffolk, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
      • Fox Iris Productions
      • Intermedia Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $5,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,594,617
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $23,144
      • Dec 16, 2001
    • Gross worldwide
      • $16,153,953
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Kate Winslet and Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Iris (2001) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    New & Upcoming Superhero Movies and Series
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    These Stars Are on the Rise
    See the gallery

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.