Source: Some information on this page may have been sourced as part of the 2023 Wikimedia Australia Partnership Projects grant, with the purpose of improving and expanding the use of Wikidata on our website. Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Read more about this project here.
Restoration is a lavish costume drama which follows the story of Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.)a young doctor whose life is changed when he is favoured by King Charles II (Sam Neill). Amidst the decadent opulance of the Restoration court Merivel soon loses sight of his career as a doctor but when he is abandoned by Charles he must return to poverty and find a place in the real world again. Based on the novel by Rose Tremain, Michael Hoffman’s film gives a great sense of life in England during the Restoration period. Sam Neill is excellent as the capricious King and Robert Downey Jr. likeable as the wayward Merivel. With appearances by Meg Ryan, Hugh Grant, Polly Walker, David Thewlis and Ian Mackellan and gorgeous music by Henry Purcell. Winner of 1996 Academy Awards for best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Stream, rent or buy via
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
308364
Language
English
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)