The film, ‘A Room with a View’, released in 1985, is both a romance and something of a comedy of (social) manners. The film was produced by the team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, with a script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and based upon the E.M. Forster novel. The time period for the film’s setting is that of Edwardian England, whilst the action of the film takes place in both Italy and England.
The plot of the film revolves around a young, upper class woman, played by Helena Bonham Carter and follows her character from a chaperoned tour of Italy and then back to England, with the main plot element of the film being where her character’s romantic and matrimonial future will lie and with whom. The film successfully balances the romantic elements of the plot with the comic and satirical aspects aimed at the Edwardian / post Victorian milieu which the characters inhabit.
The film was very well received by the critics on its original release and won a number of awards at both the BAFTA’s and the Academy Awards / ‘Oscars’. It has perhaps suffered somewhat critically since by being grouped in with what the writer Andrew Higson and others have referred to as ‘Heritage films’, along with also a number of the other films produced by Merchant-Ivory. It is certainly true that the film is no longer that well remembered, despite having been treated by the media as quite a high profile film release in 1985. Arguably, the film now deserves something of a reappraisal and I expect that most viewers who do make the effort to view the film would enjoy it.
The Wikipedia entry for the film (contains plot spoilers):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Room_with_a_View_(1985_film)
A Room with a View: English Hearts and Italian Sunshine - an essay on the film, from the ‘Criterion’ website (contains plot spoilers):
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3724-a-room-with-a-view-english-hearts-and-italian-sunshine
