I can understand that some people would find the deliberate, methodical pace of this film as off-putting, but I think if you take it in the context of the social and class relationships of that time, you glean a new understanding of the film. To me, it is amazing the amount of restraint that Hopkins and Thompson bring to their roles, as would only be proper for those in service at the time. The juxtaposition of the unattainable romance of two downstairs people against the fading glory of the upstairs crowd is genius. Especially interesting is the fact that the author, who so manages to capture the essence of the English class structure, is an expatriate Japanese.