Iin 1930s Shanghai, 'The White Countess' is both Sofia—a fallen member of the Russian aristocracy—and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat, who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.
It's a pretty journey, even if it is far too talky and emotionally distant to really work.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
10 Feb 2006
fresh:
A tale well told, a look at history in the making and those being shaken in the process.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
3 Feb 2006
rotten:
A tedious, overblown bit of business.
– Terry Lawson,
Detroit Free Press,
3 Feb 2006
rotten:
... The White Countess is so bloodless it all but cries for a transfusion.
– Colin Covert,
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
27 Jan 2006
fresh:
The White Countess, although it has its share of Masterpiece Theatre moments, is another film to remind us just how cosmopolitan is the Merchant-Ivory filmography.