Merchant lvory Productions, Ied by director James Ivory and producer lsmail Merchant, became a household name with A Room with a View, the first of their extraordinary adaptations of E. M. Forster noveIs. A cherubic nineteen-year-oId Helena Bonham Carter plays Lucy Honeychurch, a young, independent-minded, upper-cIass Edwardian woman who is trying to sort out her burgeoning romantic feeIings, divided between an enigmatic free spirit (Julian Sands) she meets on vacation in FIorence and the priggish bookworm (DanieI Day-Lewis) to whom she becomes engaged back in the more corseted Surrey. Funny, sexy, and sophisticated, this gargantuan art-house hit features a sublime supporting cast-incIuding Simon CalIow, Judi Dench, Denholm EIliott, Maggie Smith-and remains a touchstone of intelligent romantic cinema. |