The White Countess directed by James Ivory, 2005, color, English, 2 hours, 15 minutes.

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The White Countess is an enjoyable film, set in 1930s Shanghai, about a former privileged member of the Russian nobility (Natasha Richardson) who lives in a squalid apartment above a Jewish tailor shop. 

The countess, Sofia, goes to work for, and ultimately falls in love with, a former American diplomat (Ralph Fiennes)  in the years prior to Japan's occupation of China.

The tailor, Samuel Feinstein (Alan Corduner), is an endearing if puzzling character.  He has such respect, love and compassion for the upstairs tenants, despite the fact that they were part and parcel of a regime that launched or tolerated numerous pogroms against the Jews.  

When a Nazi type in Shanghai's international community slurs the Jews, Feinstein pretends not to notice, later revealing that back in the old country, his children had lost their mother and grandmother to the haters..  In Shanghai, under the Chinese government, Jews were as protected as any other foreigners.  So after what his children had endured, Feinstein said, "I don't hear it."

But he did hear and see enough of the two main characters that, during a critical time in their lives, he was able to intervene to their benefit.  Throughout the movie, the Jew, the American, the White (Russian) Countess, various Chinese functionaries, and a secretive Japanese diplomat all treat each other with impeccable manners, never failing to call each other by their surnames, and usually rising when addressed.   This courtliness was in marked contrast to the loss of life and destruction that would befall  Shanghai with the Japanese conquest.  

In the case of the character Samuel, we wonder at his fascination with the faded countess, who works as a hostess in a nightclub in order to support her impoverished yet still royal family.  Perhaps, he is attracted to her nobility of spirit— her willingness to do what was needed to be done in order to care for her daughter as well as a sister, aunt, and doddering parents.  Or perhaps, after being treated so badly as a Jew, he simply was delighted to be on an equal, even superior footing, with the former nobility.

Whatever his motives, Samuel proved himself a true gentleman.  He may be a minor character, but he is one to be remembered by those who pay attention to how Jews are portrayed in the movies.