UNDERSTATED 'WHITE COUNTESS' A NOBLE FINALE FOR MERCHANT-IVORY.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

SENSUOUSLY PHOTOGRAPHED, sedate in its storytelling and spotlighting extraordinary actors wielding impeccable accents, ``The White Countess'' marks a fitting conclusion to the celebrated partnership of James Ivory and the late Ismail Merchant. All the above elements - along with the requisite emotional distance, bang-for-the-buck production design and leisurely, literate presentation - make the movie worthwhile for the Merchant-Ivory crowd as well as anyone who wants to enjoy the continued fruits of Ralph Fiennes' banner year.

Fiennes - scoring an actor's hat trick following his great work in ``The Constant Gardener'' and the latest ``Harry Potter'' movie - plays Todd Jackson, an American diplomat in Shanghai. When the film's action begins in 1936, Jackson has lost his eyesight and his place in the world and wants nothing more than to shut himself off from what he sees as the chaos and betrayal inherent in living.

So like another world-weary soul over in Casablanca (the similarities are numerous), Jackson opens a nightclub, installing a Russian countess, Sofia (Natasha Richardson), as the centerpiece of the establishment. ``She has everything,'' Jackson tells a confidant. ``The tragedy, the weariness. She knows that history has no place for her kind anymore.''

Indeed, before meeting Jackson, Sofia had been reduced to working as a dance-hall girl in a seedy club, her services to her customers often extending beyond the dance floor. Sofia does this to support her family, including a young daughter (plucky Madeleine Daly), an aging aunt (Vanessa Redgrave) and some bitter in-laws (Lynn Redgrave and Madeleine Potter) who are happy to take Sofia's money but never reluctant to remind her of their disdain for the way she earned it.

The film, directed by Ivory and written by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (``The Remains of the Day''), follows the slow-forming friendship between Jackson and Sofia, centering on the thawing of Jackson's self-imposed (and quite understandable) remove from the world. The character's insularity could be a problem in lesser hands. For Fiennes, the man is just the latest in a career spent playing tortured souls, each one unique as a tragically flawed hero.

The movie loses some steam midway through after a key character revelation, but recovers nicely in its final, frenetic half-hour, finally delivering the long-withheld emotional payoff amid the chaos of the Japanese invasion of Shanghai. This being Merchant and Ivory, though, don't be expecting big tears or a passionate kiss, not when a vacant stare and the touch of a hand can convey the same charge.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

THE WHITE COUNTESS - Three stars

(PG-13: some violent images, thematic content)

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson.

Director: James Ivory.

Running time: 2 hr. 15 min.

Playing: Laemmle's Town Center 5 in Encino; Laemmle's Pasadena Playhouse 7; Laemmle's Royal in West Los Angeles.

In a nutshell: Final Merchant-Ivory film has all the elements you'd expect, and in this case that's not such a bad thing.

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Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) locks lips with erstwhile dance-hall girl Sofia (Natasha Richardson) in ``The White Countess.''