A Room with a View (1985)
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The story
In 1907, a young Englishwoman named Lucy Honeychurch and her chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett, travel to Florence, Italy. While staying at a local pensione, they are initially disappointed by their lack of a view of the River Arno. However, a room exchange leads to a chance encounter between Lucy and the free-spirited George Emerson. As Lucy navigates the restrictive and repressed culture of Edwardian England upon her return, she finds herself torn between her engagement to the socially prominent Cecil Vyse and her growing, secret feelings for the unconventional George.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1907, Lucy Honeychurch and her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett stay in Florence. After a room exchange with the Emersons, Lucy experiences a brief, unchaperoned moment with George Emerson. Upon returning to England, Lucy becomes engaged to the wealthy but cold Cecil Vyse. Her feelings for George resurface when she learns he is living nearby. During a social gathering, a shared literary scene leads to a passionate kiss from George in a garden, which Lucy later discovers was shared with her social circle. Realizing her engagement to Cecil is based on social convention rather than love, she ends it. After a period of separation and confusion regarding their status, Lucy and George eventually realize their mutual feelings and marry, spending their honeymoon in the same Italian room where they first met.
- First release year
- 1985
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- James Ivory
- Writers
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Helena Bonham Carter · Lucy Honeychurch; Julian Sands · George Emerson; Maggie Smith · not specified; Denholm Elliott · not specified; Judi Dench · Eleanor Lavish; Simon Callow · Mr. Beebe; Daniel Day-Lewis · Cecil Vyse; Rupert Graves · Freddy Honeychurch
- Genres
- romance; drama
- Themes
- repression vs. freedom; social class; romance
- Tone and mood
- romantic; comedic
- Premise and plot tags
- period piece; romance; cultural critique
- Source material / true-story basis
- E. M. Forster's 1908 novel A Room with a View
- Content notes
- nudity
- Reception
- The film received universal critical acclaim and was a box-office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 100% · scale: percentage · review count: 37
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Adapted Screenplay · won; Academy Award · Best Art Direction · won; Academy Award · Best Costume Design · won
- Production trivia
- The film follows the novel's structure by using chapter titles to distinguish segments.; The film was shot in ten weeks across Italy and England.; The production was a hit in both Britain and the US.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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