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'White Countess': Fitting Merchant-Ivory Finale

The White Goddess is the last film made by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory before Merchant's death.

Set in Shanghai on the eve of World War II, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as a blind diplomat and Natasha Richardson as a White Russian refugee.

Critic Bob Mondello says the movie is a fittingly literate end to the Merchant-Ivory partnership.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello reviews movies and covers the arts for NPR and shares critiques and commentaries on NPR's award-winning newsmagazine All Things Considered.