Cinema
A Room with a View
James Ivory · 1985
Synopsis
At the beginning of the century, Lucy Honeychurch visits Florence with her cousin and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett; their rooms at the Pensione Bertolini do not overlook the Arno, and Mr Emerson and his son George, freethinkers, give up theirs to them. Lucy witnesses a fatal brawl in the Piazza della Signoria and faints; George comes to her aid. On an excursion to Fiesole, he kisses her in a field, and Charlotte intervenes. Back in Surrey, Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil Vyse, and the Emersons settle in the neighbourhood.
Context
The production company founded in 1961 by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory was joined in 1963 by the screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, born in Cologne; the Guinness Book of Records regards the partnership of the two men as the longest in independent cinema. This was the first of the company's three Forster adaptations, the other two coming in 1987 and 1992, and its first major commercial success. Ismail Merchant was born in Bombay in 1936.
Who it is for
A film of one hour fifty-seven minutes, in period costume, whose action begins in Italy and continues in England.
Prizes and reception
Three Oscars in 1987 from eight nominations, including the one for adapted screenplay, five British Academy awards, and a Golden Globe for Maggie Smith.
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