On R List of Movie Reviews
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A Room with a View (1985)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
2/07, 10/10, 2/25
2/07:
A Room with a View is a rare achievement in filmmaking which is transforming the screenplay into a
motion picture with the feel of a 19th century novel with brilliant performances, and it only cost $3 million.
The direction is adroitly done by James Ivory, and the cinematography is magnificent. Maggie Smith and Daniel
Day-Lewis are perfect...just funny because of their prim and proper behavior. The latter is brilliant because of his
total transformation from a flaming gay lover in
My Beautiful Laundrette to an excessively upright bore.
Denholm Elliot, Helena Bonham Carter (who was 19 years old at the time), Simon Callow, Rupert Graves, and Julian Sands
give strong performances. The most hilarious scene is when the last three guys went for a skinnydipping in the pond.
What a perfect title as it's illustrated by Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith when they're placed exactly where
they wanted to be all along and then again by the former and Julian Sands at the end as shown in the movie poster.
Mostly, the story is about a girl meeting the right boy but refusing to believe it, deciding to marry the wrong guy
before realizing her mistake in time, and going back to the other one.
All in all, A Room with a View is a pure Merchant Ivory picture.
10/10:
After retrying A Room with a View, I unfortunately find it long and boring with a lot of pretend acting.
Although I've read these novels written during the 18th and 19th century and understand how the characters'
deportment and etiquette should be, the duplication feels fake and awkward. It's also difficult to adjust my
21st century mind because the themes are now antiquated and frivolous.
All in all, A Room with a View will have to be watched again later.
2/25:
A Room with a View is back on my list of Best Films.
I think the last time I saw it I was put off by the airs put on by the characters, and it's about rich white people
with too much time on their hands. No matter what, I appreciate anything by Merchant Ivory, and this is first class
all the way through. What a fine cast on top of splendid writing, cinematography, and costumes. It's too bad about
Julian Sands who went missing recently during a hiking trip and wasn't found until six months later.
All in all, if you have to pick one Merchant Ivory picture to watch, make it A Room with a View.