Review of A Room with a View (1986) by Lauren M — 24 Jul 2009

A period piece about "genteel characters who suffer from disillusion and tragic entanglements." Which more or less sums up your typical Merchant-Ivory picture. One of the several movies of theirs that was adapted from an E.M. Forster novel.

This was a very charming movie. It is very pleasing visually and audibly, as well as emotionally. The story is quite romantic, and is tied up very nicely at the end. On a very cute, and subtle level, I found this movie to be quite hilarious as well.

The awesomeness of the wardrobe and the sets in this movie are hard to describe. I loved the hairstyles, the dresses, the suits and the way the gents tied their ties. I love going back to this portion of history. Very genuinely recreated, with lots of time and effort put into the history of the era. The vernacular, and general etiquette of this period is very attractive for some reason, which is why I imagine that most Merchant-Ivory films are created in this era.

(Plot details below).

What I loved about this semi-entangled romance story, is the irony of the circumstances, and how life is so crazy! People always try to play by certain codes, and ethics when it comes to love, but we often get disconnected from the real meaning of love. I think the fact that no one knows for sure, is an example of we can never judge love or a person based on a set standard of guidelines and codes. So with that being said, back to the irony, which is, if Lucy had not been stuck in her ways of what she believed to be proper, according to her parents, and elders, then she might have never know how to love. She might have never figured it out, and just settled for a lesser, yet more comfortable life.

Whew. So, aside from the craziness of life, and happenstance, and "fate". The theme most commonly noted on this story, is the repressed sexual energy. How amazing love could be if we were all this repressed. I think in current times, sex and love are taken and regarded so lightly. I like the idea of preserving this level of etiquette, and wholesomeness. I'm on board.

Recommended for the older movie goer, history buff, hopeless romantic, general movie head or film freak. Anyone with a finely attuned appreciation for history and film will love this one.