A Room with a View

This movie is completely beautiful and always fascinating to watch. Each actor does great work, with Maggie Smith (as usual) being the most memorable. Her nomination was deserved, but where was one for Daniel Day-Lewis? I thought he was more memorable than Denholm Elliot, who was nominated. This movie is one to own and take out to enjoy when the mood strikes.

Best line - "Because she IS Charlotte Bartlett"!

Why can't Hollywood make movies like this? I first saw this on PBS several years ago and I bought the video which i must have watched a hundred times. I may need to buy the DVD. My only regret is that I didn't see this gem of a movie in the grand scale of a theater. I just fell in love with the scenery, the music and the actors, all perfectly cast. The funniest scene was the swimming in the pond. I still laugh out loud everytime I see that scene. Oh, would I love to be a Lucy Honeychurch with a George Emerson who adores me.

A Room with a View possesses a fabulous cast, beautiful cinematography, an awesome adapted script, and a tale of oppressed desire during the paradigm shift from the repressive Victorian age to the more liberal Edwardian time. The film moves at a deliberate pace of country strolls and carriage rides filling the viewer with literary awakenings and music compositions. Poppies, barley, and Florence architecture decorate the screen.

The film is witty if anything with carefree individuals roaming about with leisure on their minds. Pure love and desire aches throughout and Italy is the place to bring the lovers together.

It is a handsome picture. Detailed period pieces and costumes. The cast is phenomenal! Helena Bohnam Carter portrays the peevish Lucy Honeychurch on her way to becoming her prudish Cousin and chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett (The Great Maggie Smith.) However The spirit of Italy will prevent such an occurrence and fill Miss Honeychurch with pure desire for George, the man who was brought up from the evils and hate of the world.

The adaptation is superb. Fun. It is a film to live in and swim in the sacred lake. One of the best films of the 80's. Terrific!

With 'A Room With A View' the Merchant Ivory duo present a splendid period piece and a smart classy romantic comedy. The writing is smooth and the characters are so wonderfully surprising. The humour is both creative and intelligent and is rather subtle when compared to the over-the-top nonsense toilet humour that is so frequently evident in films these days. Yet, there is also the in-your-face shocking humour. While I found the skinny dipping sequence ghastly, it was also hilarious.

'A Room With A View' has class.The Italian and English locations are stunning and the costumes are intriguing. The cinematography is delightful and the score, especially the piano pieces, are marvelous. The cast is superb as it includes a very young Helena Bonham Carter, a brash Julian Sands, a gossipy Judi Dench, a pompous Daniel Day-Lewis, an opinionated Maggie Smith, a funny Denholm Elliot, an eccentric Simon Callow and a wild Rupert Graves. To sum it up, 'A Room With A View' is a delightfully beautiful little film. It became a surprise smash hit in the U.S. which helped gain the much-deserved international acclaim.

Merchant-Ivory always do a good job. Their films are not only stunning visually, but they evoke an emotional response. A Room with a View is superficially a love story. and I hate to admit it kind of stays there. But they stick to the books. Having read the respective, Howard's End, and a Passage to India, I can truly say they adhere to what has been written. But the books are completely about what you read between the lines. E.M Forester was pretty disgusted by his culture. Yet it was his....and he loved it.......because it provided itself with misfits...i.e Lucy and her beau. He was an echo of Oscar Wilde. I think if you look very hard into this movie you will see that. Denholm Elliot is the epitome of an englishman who isn't an englishman. and he is the complete opposite of Mrs. Vyse....his opposing character. Even the vicar isn't what he supposed to be. Nude Bathing (Oh my Goodness) and in praise of passion he is a free spirit. I think anyone who can say bad about his movie has issues. Yes, its main-stream international. But its beautiful.