A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1986)

Country: U.K.

Genre(s): Drama / Romance

Director: James Ivory

Cast: Helena Bonham-Carter / Maggie Smith / Julian Sands

Plot

English tourist Lucy falls for a free-spirited Englishman in Florence.  When he follows her back to the English countryside, she is forced to choose between him and her well-to-do fiancé.

What I Liked

Damn near all of the most honored British actors of recent decades make some sort of appearance in “A Room with a View.”  There is of course lead Helena Bonham-Carter (“Fight Club,” “The King’s Speech”), as young as I have ever seen her.  Judi Dench (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Pride & Prejudice”) prattles on through a few scenes as a clueless novelist.  Maggie Smith (the Harry Potter series) is perfectly cast as the prudish and fussy Charlotte Bartlett.  Denholm Elliott (the Indiana Jones series) plays perhaps the movie’s most interesting character, the wonderfully forthright Mr. Emerson.  And last but far from least, Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood,” “Lincoln”) completely embodies the obnoxious snob Cecil Vyse.  I already know he is an amazing actor, yet I am still startled by how well he seems to be able to capture every facet of any kind of role thrown his way, even at this early stage of his career.  Watch him here and you’ll be struggling to believe that this is the same man from “Last of the Mohicans” or “Gangs of New York.”

Even more impressive than the cast is the visual magnificence of the movie, particularly in the early scenes which take place in Florence, Italy.  The digital transfer has been admirably done to the point where it seems this film was originally shot digitally, allowing the Italian architecture to be seen in all its vastness and glory as though one were standing beside Bonham-Carter, marveling with her.  As if in competition with the man made splendors, the Italian and English country-sides also seduce the eye with their lush green and yellow hues.

What I Didn’t Like

A self-possessed young woman from the English country must choose between a passionate suitor and a more proper one.  Are we sure E.M. Forster wrote the novel?  Because I swear this should have been – and probably was – a Jane Austin plot.  It was all very well executed, but I get tired of the same old conflicts and themes in English period pieces, always young women struggling against the moral corset the Victorian era has put them in.  I’ve seen so many movies with their insufferable heroines that I find it hard to believe Victorian repression could have existed at all, for clearly defiant young ladies were an epidemic in England in this period.

Most Memorable Scene

As I mentioned above, this movie captures the magnificence of Florence with breathtaking cinematography and clarity.  Thus the opening half hours is a wonder to behold and should be put on a loop in any travel agency looking to sell trips to Italy.

My Rating: 4 out of 5