Directed by: James Ivory
Starring: Helena Bonham-Carter, Julian Sands, Daniel Day-Lewis, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Judi Dench, Simon Callow
A Room with a View does us a service by introducing the actors and the characters they play during the opening credits. It helps us to keep things straight, which sometimes can be a task in movies based on Victorian-era novels. There are many characters and situations to keep abreast of here, but A Room with a View is more passionate and romantic than other Merchant-Ivory productions like Howard's End and The Remains Of The Day. Or at the very least it expresses them more. A Room with a View is more about love and emotions than the British class system. Lucy Honeychurch (Bonham-Carter) isn't conflicted because she's in love with a poor young man while engaged to a richer one. She is conflicted because she has never been honest about her emotions with anyone, including herself.
The film opens in Florence, where Lucy is vacationing with her chaperone Charlotte (Smith). Her room at her hotel doesn't have a good view, which is remedied by kindly Mr. Emerson (Elliott), who offers to switch rooms with Lucy. Mr. Emerson is accompanied by his son George (Sands), who falls in love at first sight with Lucy, culminating in a impromptu kiss between the two in a barley field a short time later. George is an impetous romantic who believes Lucy is his intended. "Something has passed between us," he tells her. Lucy may or may not agree. Her inner conflict is brought to the surface when she plays Beethoven on the piano. A character observes that she plays with passion, but doesn't live her life that way.
Lucy returns to England and becomes engaged to Cecil Vyse (Day-Lewis), who is rich but rather bland. He prefers to read aloud to Lucy rather than kiss her; apparently he's in love with the sound of his own voice. With his slicked back hair, glasses, and moustache, Cecil looks like he could play a silent-movie villain. Lucy seems to like him well enough despite his aloofness, but there are no sparks between them. He is the safe, financially secure choice for Lucy, who still won't take a leap of faith even after George kisses her a second time near Vyse's tennis court.
Daniel Day-Lewis has gone on to a career that has netted him three Best Actor Oscars. This was one of his early film roles, but he nails it as a prig with very little awareness of what makes his fiancee tick. Naturally, his character exists to be dumped by Lucy. The other extraordinary character is Mr. Emerson, played by Denhom Elliott in a scene-stealing performance. Unbound by adherence to societal norms, he is an unabashed romantic who believes in following his heart to happiness. He instills this in his son and proudly defends it. He is seen as uncouth by Lucy, Charlotte, and the others, but only because they are shocked by (and perhaps envy) his free spirit. He has a pivotal heart-to-heart with Lucy near the end which provides a satisfying conclusion. Only Mr. Emerson could provide the correct advice and observations that Lucy needed to hear at that moment. Afterwards, we see a huge smile on Lucy's face and we understand that she finally follows her heart and feels good about it.
Movies like this aren't for everyone. Some may find them excessively talky. Others may simply give up trying to follow who does what to whom. Me? I enjoy films like this. I enjoy watching characters that speak a lot, but manage to subtly avoid speaking honestly about more important things. You have to pay attention to catch what's going on. Sometimes, movies about repressed or unrequited love can be more exhiliarating and passionate than straight-up romantic dramas where everyone easily expresses each feeling they have. Many people don't always know how to verbalize their emotions or even understand them. That holds true for early 1900's England as much as 2010's everyplace else.
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