Stephen Holden of the "New York Times" said, "You couldn't ask for a tonier cast than the one that gamely tries to pump oxygen into the thin, filtered air of "The White Countess" ... But with its tentative pace, fussy, pieced-together structure and stuffy emotional climate, film never develops any narrative stamina ... has the familiar Merchant-Ivory trademarks: cultivated dialogue, a keen eye for the nuances of upscale society and a sophisticated, internationalist view of class and ethnicity. What is missing from a film that wants to be an Asian "Casablanca" crossed with "The English Patient" is a racing, dramatic pulse. Its sedate tone is simply too refined for the story it has to tell. Mr. Ishiguro's prim, anemic screenplay is so lacking in drive and emotional gravitas that the actors are left with only scraps of lean dramatic meat to tear into."