A Room With A View (Special Edition) [DVD] [1985]

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 View was 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 View comes 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

A Room with a View is a part-love story, part-attack on the English class system and manners of Edwardian times. Based on E.M. Forster's 1908 novel of the same name, the film adaptation was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. One of three Forster novels adapted by Merchant Ivory Productions, A Room With A View has enjoyed more popular success than any previous Merchant Ivory film. Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala received an Academy Award for her screenplay, and the film itself--which also features Judi Dench and Simon Callow--was nominated for Best Picture. The A Room With A View (Special Edition) DVD contains many extra features, including: BBC Breakfast Time special appearances and reports; a tribute to E. M. Forster (hosted by James Mossman); a Film '96 Merchant/Ivory tribute profile; and additional commentaries by Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Tony Pierce Roberts and Simon Callow.

Synopsis

When a young Englishwoman named Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) and her spinster chaperone Charlotte (Maggie Smith) travel to Italy, they become acquainted with a free-spirited and unconventional Englishman named Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliot), and his enigmatic and 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 her stiff and very proper fiancé Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis), however, after finding out the Emersons have moved close by she has a hard time ignoring her attraction to the unsuitable George.

• DVD & Blu-ray > Channel 4
• DVD & Blu-ray > Drama > Period
• DVD & Blu-ray > Special Editions > Drama

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?