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A Room With a View – 1985 Ivory
- Easily the strongest effort to date in 1985 from James Ivory and his producer Ishmail Merchant—it was a box office hit of sorts- and the Oscars loved it as well- 8 noms, 3 wins (screenplay, art direction costumer) and other noms for picture, Ivory, the DP, Denholm Elliot, and Maggie Smith
- Adapted screenplay was won by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala—she’s really the third part of Merchant Ivory as she wrote many of their works and almost all of their best ones
- Helena Bonham Carter’s film debut at 19- a revelation
- Many critics at the time noticed that new-comer Daniel Day-Lewis had two films released on the same day—this (he’s part of the ensemble here) and My Beautiful Launderette from Stephen Frears—the range on display in those two films is pretty staggering
- EM Forster adaptation and one of, if not the best one
- The opening credits with the beautiful crests is inspired—especially when combine it with the Puccini music
- Shooting on location in Tuscany
- Much of the opening is a comedy of manners- what is proper, what is rude, there are chaperones, tact and delicacy discussion
- The outspoken author (Dench) who is spontaneous vs the reserved (Maggie Smith) and uptight
- The free young man (Julian Sands) vs. the very kept and proper Bonham Carter—all of this amongst a beautiful backdrop
- Sculpture montage like Shakespeare-Wallah from Ivory in 1965
- Location and players involved in white titles throughout
- Denholm Elliot is so good at playing the likeable boob—just like Marcus in the Indiana Jones series
- In 2018 now I see the connection to Call Me By Your Name (Ivory won screenplay Oscar for writing)—the story and the landscapes and travelogue
- The unspoken poppies/barley field kiss scene is wonderful filmmaking. Opera music
- Julien Sands doesn’t have to talk much which is good for him- he’s often an uneven performer but very solid here
- Bonham Carter’s hair should get a credit in the film- haha- gorgeous
- DDL is good here- it’s a bold performance- very “go for it” as Cecil. It’s closer to being so over the top it belongs in a different film but I still think it’s a success—it makes for another comic juxtaposition like Dench/Smith and Sands/Bonham-Carter– DDL’s Cecil is so different from Sands and they compete for Bonham-Carter—the scene where DDL asks to kiss her is directly contrasted with Sands’ scene where he doesn’t ask- it’s great writing—DDL’s Cecil’s kiss here is an abject comic disaster
- Well-manicured English lawns,
- Like almost all Merchant Ivory there’s nudity here with the pond scene- male frontal
- There’s more to Smith’s character than meets the eye at first- a very well-rounded character and I love the arch
- The kiss at the end looking out the window with Puccini again is a big success- legit passion and earned romance
- Highly Recommend- top 10 of the year quality film
Drake2020-07-03T10:30:00+00:00
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[…] A Room with a View – Ivory […]
Things aren’t boding well for Julian Sands sadly
@Harry- Saw this, sad, hope for the best of course. Sands has always been an adventurous actor with some of the roles and films he’s chosen
The sad news is now confirmed, of course. The media coverage has quoted widely from this interview answer from Sands (likely because it concerns climbing mountains), but the full passage is worth a look, both for the humanity it exemplifies, and also because it is interesting to wonder how the same sentiments might have informed his acting craft as well. Replying to a question about the last time he cried:
“Also a few nights ago, I wept a little when I came off the end of the mountain trail. At the thought of being able to rest my feet and also the relief of having completed the trail. I love climbing mountains, I’ve spent a lot of time in the Alps over the years, a lot of time in the Andes, Alaska and the American ranges. Climbing mountains, a lot of time people who don’t climb mountains assume is about this great heroic sprint for the summit. And somehow this great ego-driven ambition. But actually it’s the reverse. It’s about supplication and sacrifice and humility, when you go to these mountains. It’s not so much a celebration of oneself but the eradication of one’s self consciousness. And so on these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony hopefully with your environment. So when that came to an end a couple of days ago, I cried myself a tear of relief.”
Source: https://community.thriveglobal.com/a-free-spirit-on-lockdown-julian-sands-on-what-makes-him-thrive-keep-it-real-and-the-last-time-he-cried/