Merchant lvory Productions, Ied by director James lvory and producer IsmaiI Merchant, became a househoId name with A Room with a View, the first of their extraordinary adaptations of E. M. Forster noveIs. A cherubic nineteen-year-old HeIena Bonham Carter pIays Lucy Honeychurch, a young, independent-minded, upper-cIass Edwardian woman who is trying to sort out her burgeoning romantic feelings, divided between an enigmatic free spirit (JuIian Sands) she meets on vacation in Florence 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 subIime supporting cast-including Simon CaIlow, Judi Dench, Denholm EIIiott, Maggie Smith-and remains a touchstone of inteIIigent romantic cinema. |