Rating: 
Summary: repression never looked so comical and sexy!
Review: Having first viewed this film for a literature class years ago, I must say this remains a truly fine screen adaptation and a timeless classic of the heritage film genre. E.M. Forster was a novelist and keen observer of human nature ahead of his time. Through the device of the central love story between sweet yet self-deceiving Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham-Carter), bohemian and enigmatic George Emerson (Julian Sands) and the priggish and intellectual dilettante Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis), the film asks why and how we as human beings go to such lengths to conceal our true feelings (e.g. love, happiness, displeasure, loneliness) from the world. Is it from fear of impropriety, embarassment, and/or judgement? In Lucy's case, it is all of these. One may add that for the rest of us that applies quite well even in our daily 21st century context. Forster once said (and I paraphrase here) that the most important thing is to "only connect." He meant that in the most general sense whether it is a man and woman and/or human being to human being. As the elder Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliot) claims so whole-heartedly, "I don't believe in this world sorrow," to the young and awkward Lucy (Bonham-Carter), Forster wonderfully explores how a tradition-bound society (e.g. 19thc Edwardian England) has perpetuated a romanticized notion of repression as stoic fortitude to earthly temptation. He exposes this as a sham - contrary to the complex truths of human nature (both beauty and warts!) A love of life is the most important thing to strive for and that includes a healthy indulgence in earthly pleasures before us. There are remarkable performances all around - Maggie Smith as prudish Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy's cousin and chaperone, Denholm Elliot as the eccentric, free-thinking Mr. Emerson, Julian Sands as George Emerson, Lucy's stalwart and soulful suitor, and Daniel Day-Lewis' Cecil Vyse, the last of the genteel gentleman of leisure, an absolutely hilarious embodiment of all that is comical and hypocritical about the tradition-bound society in question. Superb Italian landscapes from old Florence - Santa Croce, the campanile, the Arno River to the sun-drenched Tuscan countryside where Lucy has her epiphany about her true feelings and thus, her path in life, one traversed upon sans Baedeker. It is too bad films like this one is seemingly passe at the moment and/or has become a source of irony in themselves. Let just hope this is a temporary phase.
Rating:
Summary: 6 Stars and The Lip Lock of Love!
Review: I will gush over this film because it is worthy of praise and a standing ovation. Room With A View is likely one of the most perfect films to grace screens in decades. The E.M. Forrester story produced and directed by Ivory and Merchant brings the tale of Lucy Honeychurch to life in perfect Edwardian splendor. Wonderful locations of Florence cathedral, Palazzo Vecchio, sculpture by Donatello, and an assortment of landscapes are stunning. Helena Bonham-Carter's casting as the virginal heiress, with Maggie Smith as her meddling biddy chaperone, Judy Dench a proto-Jackie Collins author, Daniel Day-Lewis as prissy Cecil Vise, and, georgous, naked Julian Sands as George Emerson comprise one outstanding cast. The soundtrack offering by Dame Kiri Te Kaniwa's rendition of "O Mio Caro" takes your breath away. When Lucy, in a field of poppies and wildflowers, receives the kiss to curl your toes from George Emerson, well, can romatic love get any better? This video is required for collectors of Julian Sands and Daniel Day-Lewis' work. Room With A View is not a chick's flick but a wonderful example of period film making by the best production team today.
Rating: 
Summary: Ouch.
Review: A Room with a View (James Ivory, 1985) A room with a View is your typical Merchant/Ivory production, which means it's very pretty, based on a deadly dull novel, and chock full of incredible actors. In this case, Ismail and James did the world the credit of introducing them to the irrepressible Helena Bonham-Carter (Big Fish, Fight Club), Rupert Graves (Bent, The Forsyte Saga), and Mia Fothergil (Stanley's Dragon, Sparrow), among others, while reminding us of the existence of such then-established stars as Julian Sands, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, and Simon Callow, not a one of whom should need the merest speck of introduction. I mentioned in a recent review of the film Iris that I was under the impression that Judi Dench could take the worst possible film and make it watchable. While A Room with a View doesn't rate worst possible film status, this is the one time I have ever seen a Judi Dench film and been compelled not to watch the whole thing. It's a confused mess. A very pretty one, I grant you, and reasonably well-acted (though some of those here seemed to be sleepwalking through their parts), but it seemed at time as if the editor had gone off on some mad, creative romp with the source footage in an attempt to make the onscreen action make as little sense as possible. A dress rehearsal, I daresay, for their painful attempt to adapt Slaves of New York a few years later. It should come as little surprise that while the film was nominated for a slew of both Oscars and BAFTA Awards, it's strongest showing was in the visual field (Art Design and Costume Design in America coupled with Set Design in England). Perhaps it will be clearer after seeing it a few more times, but only time will tell, with so many other movies out there to be seen, whether I'll ever give it another shot.
Rating: 
Summary: THE VIEW FROM THIS ROOM IS STUNNING!
Review: "A Room With A View" is the sumptuous Merchant/Ivory production of E.M. Forster's novel about a young woman, Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham-Carter) who longs to escape her clausterphobic life. To this end she's drawn to two men of varying virtue; George (Julian Sands) a fiery, passionate dreamer - alive with living, and Cecil (Daniel Day Lewis) the snobbish and stale, though socially acceptable, man about town. This is a fabulous production, elegantly mounted and rich in stellar acting and performances that sadly, are in very short supply in today's cinema. Particularly with Bonham-Carter, one simply wishes that she would play more such roles.
TRANSFER: At long last, yes! After a previously issued disc that frankly, wasn't worth the cheap piece of plastic it was recorded on, this new 2-disc version does right on all accounts. The picture is stunning in a new 16:9 anamorphic transfer. Colors are rich and well balanced. Contrast and shadow levels are bang on. There is some slight shimmering but nothing to terribly distract. The audio is 5.1 and nicely represented. The music is the real kicker here.
EXTRAS: Some interesting archival footage, a BBC featurette, a bit about the author and a very informative audio commentary.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: ELEGANT, THOUGHTFUL, FUNNY...A MASTERPIECE YOU NEED TO OWN!
Review: This exquisite classic of Merchant-Ivory is sensually explores the struggle between the tight exterior of the British upper crust and the seething passion that lurks just beneath in the increasingly powerful middle class. You've seen a movie or two for sure that veer around such themes, but very few films have captured this combination of class struggle and personal liberation any more evocatively! Our protagonist is a young, passionate and repressed Miss Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter in possibly her best role ever) who exemplifies this unspoken inner-outer conflict. As she struggles between what is expected of her, to marry the effete and obnoxious Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day Lewis in a richly textured performance), and what she really wants, to be with the yearning, romantic George Emerson (a soft and unfocused Julian Sands) Miss Honeychurch must juggle class concerns and personal desires. As with any Merchant Ivory product, the all-round cast is vivid and intriguing. Maggie Smith never leaves a dull moment in any of her movies, a credo she maintains here as well as Lucy's nervous and confused escort -- for which she received a well deserved Oscar. As George's bewildered and sweet father, the marvellous Denholm Elliot steals every scene in which he appears. Lastly, Simon Callow as the ebullient, robust Reverend Beebe captures all that is good and true about humanity. A word for the DVD. The cinematography in this movie sparkles, and the DVD does complete justice to Ivory's camera skills -- the shots are so pure you will want to taste the dew resting atop the grass in the sumptuous English gardens. What a complete movie, full of life, love and hope! Highly recommended for your collections, you'll watch this more than once.
Rating:
Summary: A Splendid Film In It's Own Right
Review: Although I've seen "A Room with a View" several times over the past 15 years , I've only recently bought the video (to replace a used up "dubbed" videotape copy). I absolutely love period romantic films, and "A Room with a View" is among the best ever produced. Reading over the other reviews, I discovered that many have compared the film (almost always favorably) with the book. But after reading the book by E.M. Forster for the first time this past week, I found that there is really no comparison to be made - both Forster's and Merchant and Ivory's versions of the story are told splendidly, each offering its own take on romance and social mores of the early 20th century. I've long ago given up comparing book and film adaptation versions - most times, I find that each presents some wonderful insights and surprising twists to the same themes and scenes. The film, with its wonderful acting, dialogue, music and cinematography, highlights the most beautiful and clever portions of the book and melds them together to make a truly delightful cinematic masterpiece. For those who expressed disappointment over the film's "lack of depth", I grant that in many ways I agree, but that is only another indication of the success of this film adaptation. A truly successful "Hollywood" adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel makes the story accessible to all moviegoers and, hopefully, compels them to learn more about the original literary piece and its author. To discover the depth in the movie's deceptively simple plot, follow this formula - (1) Buy and watch the movie; (2) Buy and read E.M. Forster's novel; (3) Watch the movie again. Trust me, the time and energy in discovering the "beauty and joy" in both versions of "A Room with a View" will be well worth it!
Rating:
Summary: Charming
Review: Exquisite - from the soundtrack, to the cast, to the setting.The scene in the poppy field with Puccini is gorgeous! I also highly suggest tracking down Ismail Merchant's book "Florence - Filming & Feasting in Tuscany" for more on the making of the movie. ** PLEASE RELEASE HOWARDS END ON DVD TOO!!!
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Executed
Review: Great movie made from a good book. Rarely happens, but Merchant/Ivory did an incredible job creating this film. Scenery, script, music and acting are all in perfect condition from the original movie. Casting is impeccable: Maggie Smith couldn't be better cast as 'Poor Charlotte'...who is as passive-aggressive as they come. Judi Dench, as always, does a lot w/a little role. But it really is Daniel Day-Lewis, Julian Sands and Helena Bonham Carter who make the movie. Especially Day-Lewis who can annoy the hell out of you and then on a dime make you feel like his heart has actually been shattered. Don't count Rupert Graves, Simon Callow or Rosemary Leach short. All do excellent jobs. Some reviews (from the original released version) have mentioned that the audio was out of synch w/the video. I had this trouble w/this 'special edition' on my mid-priced Sony player - but the DVD plays just fine on my laptop. The 2nd disk is almost not needed. Except for a documentary/video-obituary on E.M. Forester, the extras are horrid.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning...
Review: ...if you have the least interest in this film-BUY the new DVD. It's simply amazing. I've scanned these reviews here, and apparently there was an earlier DVD issue that wasn't up to par at ALL-but rest assured, this reasonably-priced "Special Edition" looks and sounds crisp, clean-and stunningly beautiful. Obviously I loved the film when it was originally released, and plenty of others did as well-see reviews below. But watching this new DVD the other night, I was struck at how amazing this movie really is: in the first place, it's rare(to put it mildly!)for a film nearly 20 years old to not look "dated" at ALL-this one doesn't. It could have been shot yesterday. I'd be willing to bet that in 15 years "Shakespeare in Love" *will* look somehow "late '90s"-it's the norm for period costume pieces to wind up reflecting the styles of the times they were made, even if we can't see it without the distance of years passing. What an achievement, then for James Ivory, Ismail Merchant, and the designers/cinematographer/costumer...and the actors-! Superb, all of them. The second audio track is, I'm afraid, a little superfluous(although it was enjoyable to hear the producers chatting away with Simon Callow-"the Rev. Beebe"-and the only actor to record commentary, alas)...but it doesn't matter a whit. Truly one of those things where everything came together perfectly. If you buy this, you'll have a great shot at converting a few jaded kids(assuming you've got some around the house)to the glories of another time and place, and *real* romance(and just about the sexiest kisses you could ask for). Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Charming
Review: Exquisite - from the soundtrack, to the cast, to the setting.The scene in the poppy field with Puccini is gorgeous! I also highly suggest tracking down Ismail Merchant's book "Florence - Filming & Feasting in Tuscany" for more on the making of the movie. ** PLEASE RELEASE HOWARDS END ON DVD TOO!!!
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