20th April 2010
Room with a View 1986 Director: James Ivory Certificate 15

Winner of three Academy Awards, four BAFTAs and several other major awards, this brilliant film is an adaptation of E. M. Foster’s novel set in Florence and the English countryside during Edwardian times. Lucy, a young Englishwoman (Helena Bonham Carter) is on holiday in Italy with her cousin Charlotte (Maggie Smith) where they meet a bohemian, Mr Emerson (Denholm Elliott) and his son George (Julian Sands). George tries to seduce Lucy but Charlotte sees the incident and both women return to England prematurely. Lucy then becomes engaged to the wealthy but uptight Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis). At the same time the Emersons rent a cottage nearby and George again tries to seduce Lucy. An abundance of humour, both subtle and overt, is woven into the unfolding story. But the true brilliance of this film is the way in which it makes a barbed attack on the English class system while telling a touching love story set in splendid surroundings.