Stars: Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Helena Bonham-Carter, Judi Dench, Julian Sands, Daniel Day-Lewis, Simon Callow, Patrick Godfrey, Rupert Graves, Fabia Drake, Rupert Graves

Director: James Ivory

Summary: Based on the novel by E.M. Forster and set in Florence and the English countryside, the film follows a young English couple who encounter passion in Italy and defying the Victorian conventions of their elders, dare to be true to their feelings and each other.

E.M. Forster's 1908 novel, A ROOM WITH A VIEW, is adapted for the screen by director James Ivory in this beautifully lighthearted tale of Edwardian manners. Helena Bonham Carter stars as a young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch. When Lucy and her spinster chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith), travel to Florence, they meet an unconventional Englishman, Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliott), and his romantically unhappy son, George (Julian Sands). After George makes the grievous mistake of kissing Lucy during a picnic in the Florentine hills, Charlotte rushes her back to England. Safely home, Lucy becomes engaged to the stiff, very proper Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis), but after finding out the Emersons have moved close by, Lucy has a hard time ignoring her attraction to the unsuitable George.
Producer Ismail Merchant considered A ROOM WITH A VIEW Merchant Ivory's first genuine blockbuster, and it enjoyed more popular success than any previous Merchant Ivory film. Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was awarded an Academy Award for her screenplay, and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture. Director James Ivory's tale also features British movie icons Judi Dench and Simon Callow. A ROOM WITH A VIEW was the first of three Forster novels (the other two were MAURICE and HOWARDS END) adapted by Merchant Ivory Productions.

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The prestigious film-making trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a Viewwas released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behaviour that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually non-existent. During and after a trip to Italy with her protective companion (Maggie Smith), Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun of watching A Room with a Viewcomes from seeing how Lucy's thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. Through an abundance of humour both subtle and overt, the film rose to an unexpected level of popular appeal. The Merchant-Ivory team received eight Academy Award nominations for their efforts, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction and Costume Design. --Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1985
Release Date:	March 19, 2001
Runtime:	119 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	078 025 2
Keywords:	With, Room, General, View, Romantic, Drama, Period
Genre:	Drama