Merchant lvory Productions, Ied by director James Ivory and producer lsmaiI 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 HeIena Bonham Carter pIays Lucy Honeychurch, a young, independent-minded, upper-class 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 (Daniel 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. |