Product Details

• Actors: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands, Simon Callow
• Directors: James Ivory
• Writers: E.M. Forster, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
• Producers: Ismail Merchant, Paul Bradley, Peter Marangoni
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English, Italian
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (199 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300250512
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #1 in	Video > Art House & International > United Kingdom > Drama
  #1 in	Video > Comedy > Romantic Comedies > Contemporary
  #1 in	Video > Comedy > British

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

The prestigious filmmaking trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a View was released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the British class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behavior that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually nonexistent. During and after a trip to Italy with her protective companion (Maggie Smith), Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun of watching A Room with a View comes from seeing how Lucy's thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. Through an abundance of humor both subtle and overt, this crowd-pleasing "art movie" rose to an unexpected level of popular appeal. The Merchant-Ivory team received eight Academy Award nominations for their efforts, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, and Costume Design. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.com

The prestigious filmmaking trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a View was released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the British class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behavior that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually nonexistent. During and after a trip to Italy with her protective companion (Maggie Smith), Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun of watching A Room with a View comes from seeing how Lucy's thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. Through an abundance of humor both subtle and overt, this crowd-pleasing "art movie" rose to an unexpected level of popular appeal. The Merchant-Ivory team received eight Academy Award nominations for their efforts, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, and Costume Design. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

125 of 127 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning..., May 18, 2004

By	PonyExpress (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Room with a View (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

...if you have the least interest in this film-BUY the new DVD. It's simply amazing. I've scanned these reviews here, and apparently there was an earlier DVD issue that wasn't up to par at ALL-but rest assured, this reasonably-priced "Special Edition" looks and sounds crisp, clean-and stunningly beautiful. Obviously I loved the film when it was originally released, and plenty of others did as well-see reviews below. But watching this new DVD the other night, I was struck at how amazing this movie really is: in the first place, it's rare(to put it mildly!)for a film nearly 20 years old to not look "dated" at ALL-this one doesn't. It could have been shot yesterday. I'd be willing to bet that in 15 years "Shakespeare in Love" *will* look somehow "late '90s"-it's the norm for period costume pieces to wind up reflecting the styles of the times they were made, even if we can't see it without the distance of years passing. What an achievement, then for James Ivory, Ismail Merchant, and the designers/cinematographer/costumer...and the actors-! Superb, all of them. The second audio track is, I'm afraid, a little superfluous(although it was enjoyable to hear the producers chatting away with Simon Callow-"the Rev. Beebe"-and the only actor to record commentary, alas)...but it doesn't matter a whit. Truly one of those things where everything came together perfectly. If you buy this, you'll have a great shot at converting a few jaded kids(assuming you've got some around the house)to the glories of another time and place, and *real* romance(and just about the sexiest kisses you could ask for). Enjoy!

94 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Oh, poor Charlotte!", September 18, 2000

By	Lisa Elliott (Australia) - See all my reviews

I dare anyone to say anything negative about this movie. I cannot think of one element of this movie that disappointed me. I love the romance between Miss Lucy Honeychurch and Mr George Emerson. I adore the frustrating, "poor Charlotte Bartlett", Lucy's travel companion and thorn-in-her-side in matters of the heart. I love Cecil, wonderfully pompous Cecil. I want to be like Eleanor Lavish, the adventure-seeking, scandal-relishing novelist Charlotte and Lucy meet in Florence. Freddy and Mr Beebe provide delightful comic relief, as do the lovely Miss Allens. And who could not love George's doddering old Dad, Mr Emerson, especially when he upsets a tour group with his travelogue asides? If anyone is worried that their favourite book will suffer at the hands of uncaring, ignorant film makers, please, unfurrow your brow and see this movie. E.M. Forster's characters are brought to life by some of Britain's finest actors. The film is wonderfully scripted, beautifully filmed and majestically located. (There are only a handful of films that can claim to have created travel pangs in my Aussie-bound Dad.) It is a film I enjoy coming back to over and over again.

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite movie of all time!, October 6, 2000

By	Shaz "oi-you!" (Naples, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A Room With A View (DVD)

Ah, how I long for the simpler times, when your biggest problem in life was not getting the room with the view you requested, and you just HAD to fall in love with an impetuous, romantic Adonis in lovely Florence, Itlay! Helena Bonham-Carter has the most fabulous hair on the planet- just had to say that. She plays Lucy Honeychurch, a young girl on holiday in Florence with her older cousin Charlotte (Maggie Smith), who is deemed her chaperone (remember those?). When Charlotte meets George Emerson (Julian Sands), her entire being is transformed, and she ends up finding him in "a field kissed with poppies" where he promptly and without warning gives her a full throttle kiss (and you can tell, this guy KNOWS how to kiss!). Charlotte happens to catch them, and promptly drags Lucy away. But as Lucy heads home for England and the security of "Windy Corner" (the family's estate), she cannot forgot George Emerson. To remove him from her mind, she agrees to marry Cecil (a VERY scrawny, pre-"Last of the Mohicans" Daniel Day-Lewis), a stuffy, over-the-top aristocrat who cares mainly for paintings, poetry, and how things look, rather than how they actually are. Lucy's perfectly crafted world comes to a screaming halt when inadvertently, Cecil finds a new tennant for the cottage down the street- you guessed it, George Emerson and his father move in. Where as George is relieved he's found Lucy, she is upset and scared, mainly because she knows how much this incredible man rocks her world and how his presence threatens her resolve and control. She denies within herself that she loves him, but as we know, love prevails over everything. A must have for your video library. Julian Sands is entirely lovely!