A Room with a View (1985)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

E.M. Forster (novel)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 April 1986 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views...

Plot Keywords:

Playing With Food | Honeymoon | Cathedral | Mother Daughter Relationship | Singing

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Maggie Smith	...	Charlotte Bartlett, a chaperon
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Lucy Honeychurch, Miss Bartlett's cousin and charge (as Helena Bonham-Carter)
Denholm Elliott	...	Mr. Emerson, an English tourist
Julian Sands	...	George Emerson
Simon Callow	...	The Reverend Mr. Arthur Beebe
Patrick Godfrey	...	The Reverend Mr. Eager, Chaplain of the Anglican Church in Florence
Judi Dench	...	Eleanor Lavish, a novelist
Fabia Drake	...	Miss Catharine Alan
Joan Henley	...	Miss Teresa Alan
Amanda Walker	...	The Cockney Signora
Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Cecil Vyse (as Daniel Day Lewis)
Maria Britneva	...	Mrs. Vyse, Cecil's mother
Rosemary Leach	...	Mrs. Marian Honeychurch
Rupert Graves	...	Freddy Honeychurch
Peter Cellier	...	Sir Harry Otway, a landlord

Runtime:

UK:117 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:12 | Spain:T | Netherlands:6 | Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (f)

Filming Locations:

Estonian Embassy, Hyde Park Gate, South Kensington, London, England, UK

Company:

Goldcrest Films International

Trivia:

Charlotte Bartlett and Eleanor Lavish discuss the plotline of E.M. Forster's other Italian novel "Where Angels Fear to Tread" when on the picnic. Helena Bonham Carter starred in the film adaptation of the novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The psalm chant sung by the choir was written after the purported date of the film.

Quotes:

Cecil Vyse: You must forgive me if I say stupid things. My brain has gone to pieces.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Home Improvement: Room Without a View (#5.8)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Mademoiselle Modiste

A perfect movie!

Of all his in his lifetime published books (`Maurice' wasn't published before his death in 1970) E.M. Forster considered `Room with a view' as the least successful. Why that is I don´t know, because I think it's a charming book, full of warmth and humour and this film does the unthinkable: It captures the spirit of the book! It's one of the best screen adaptions that have ever been made. A perfect movie!

Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham-Carter) and her spinster cousin Charlotte (Maggie Smith) travel to Florence to spend their holidays there. They find themselves with rooms with no view and an elder gentleman, called Mr. Emerson (Denholm Eliot) and his son George (Julian Sands), who have such rooms, switch rooms with the two women. George falls in love with Lucy and in a passionate and beautiful scene kisses her in a field full of flowers. But Charlotte caught them and she and Lucy return instantly back to England. There her snobbish fiancé Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis) waits for her. Though they don't real fit together she wants to go on with the marriage. But then George and his father by coincidence rent a house in the village where Lucy lives. She feels attracted to George, but is not sure if she doesn't want to go the safe way. What will she do?

This small and intelligent romantic comedy was the surprise hit of 1985, making Merchant-Ivory and some of it's performers big names. It's light as feather, has a wonderful warm feeling about it and it never becomes cheap entertainment. The costumes, the sets, the cinematography, everything was simply perfect! There truly is no other word for it.

Helena Bonham-Carter became a star with her characterisation of Lucy. She's wonderful, touching and perfectly supported by all the other actors. Especially memorable are Judi Dench as the author of romantic fiction, Eleanor Lavish (she's hilarious), Daniel Day-Lewis, who's hardly recognisable as Cecil and Maggie Smith (I simply adore her in this) as the chaperon, who just wants to help.