A Room with a View (1985)

Directed by James Ivory. Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Simon Callow, Rosemary Leach, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denholm Elliott, Rupert Graves, Judi Dench, Patrick Godfrey, Amanda Walker, Maria Britneva.

The uptight Masterpiece Theater style of Edwardian British cinema gets a breeze blown up its knickers in a delightful way during this film adaptation of the early-twentieth century E. M. Forster novel. Lush scenery and prim social veneer makes for a luxuriant yet stuffy style of “high class,” but even as manners maketh man (and woman) in their cloistered society of respect and repression, the passion burns fierce and the humor thrums through the hedgerows, decorous avenues, and open windows overlooking splendid views. A (too) leisurely-paced intellectual romantic comedy with exquisitely detailed costumes and sets, and even if the character nuances tend to be more labored and contrived than necessary, most of the cast members find ways to bring them to vivid life—magnificently fussy spinster Smith and snobby aesthete Day-Lewis stand out, with Elliott nearly stealing the whole show with his vibrant spontaneity. It’s a pity that Carter’s uncertainty during her sexual awakening is so fastidious and her partner-in-swoon (Sands) is so drafty when being polite—always an actor of greater menace than romance—but their eventual happiness remains the viewer’s paramount concern. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s script adaptation won an Academy Award, as did the costume design and art direction; also became the first of four Merchant-Ivory productions to get a Best Picture nod. Film debut for both Carter and Graves.

83/100