A Room with a View

Dir: James Ivory/GB/1985/117 mins/Dolby stereo

Lps: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham-Carter, Julian Sands, Daniel Day Lewis




If you hated A Passage to India forgive E.M. Forster immediately, for the second of his books to be made into a film is a great success.

The scene is Florence, 1907. Miss Lucy Honeychurch, with her aunt and chaperone Charlotte, arrive at their hotel and unfortunately find their room unsatisfactory (no view). The problem is solved by the socially inept Mr Emerson and his son George who offer to swap. The story becomes more complicated as love, Victorian social values and interfering relatives make their appearance.

The photography throughout is beautiful (definitely a film to make you want to go on holiday) and the acting is superb. The two main actors, Helena Bonham-Carter and Julian Sands, have difficult jobs in not making their characters too stereotypical. Luckily, Lucy and George are just whimsical enough to enjoy without without becoming pathetic. Especially watch out for Daniel Day Lewis in a somewhat different role from that he played in My Beautiful Laundrette. The other person to watch for is Simon Callow as the Reverend Beebe, who though being slightly implausible, is very enjoyable. 

HKC

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