room with a view movie review

A Room with a View

My favorite character in “A Room with a View” is George Emerson, the earnest, passionate young man whose heart beats fiercely with love for Lucy Honeychurch. She is a most respectable young woman from a good family, who has been taken to Italy on the grand tour with a lady companion, Miss Bartlett.

Lucy meets George and his father in their pensione. A few days later, while standing in the middle of a waving field of grass, the sun bathing the landscape in a yellow joy, she is kissed by George, most unexpectedly. He does not ask her permission. He does not begin with small talk. He takes her and kisses her, and, for him, something “great and important” has happened between them.

Lucy is not so sure. She catches her breath, and Miss Bartlett appears on top of a hill and summons her back to tea. A few months later, in England, Lucy announces her engagement to Cecil Vyse, who is a prig. Cecil is the sort of man who would never play tennis, who wears a pince-nez, who oils his hair and who thinks that girls are nice because they like to listen to him read aloud. Cecil does not have many clues as to what else girls might be nice for.

Meanwhile, George Emerson and his father – who is an idealist, a dreamer and a follower of Thoreau – take a cottage in the neighborhood. And one day George kisses Lucy again. He then delivers an astonishing speech, in which he explains that Love exists between them. (Not love, but Love – you can hear the capital letter in his voice.) Lucy must not marry Cecil, he explains, because Cecil does not understand women and will never understand Lucy and wants her only for an ornament. George, on the other hand, wants her as his partner in the great adventure of life.

George does not have many big scenes, other than those two. The rest of the time, he keeps a low profile and says little. But his function is clear: He is the source of passion in a society that is otherwise tightly bound up in convention, timidity and dryness. He is the man to break the chains, to say what he thinks, to free Lucy’s spirit. And that he does, with great energy and efficiency. George is my favorite character because he is such a strange bird, so intense, so filled with conviction, so convinced of Lucy’s worth.

“A Room with a View” is the story of George and Lucy, but it also is an attack on the British class system. In the opening scenes of the movie, Lucy and Miss Bartlett have been given a room in the Italian pensione that does not have a view. Dear old Mr. Emerson insists that the women take his rooms, which have a view. By the end of the film, George will have offered Lucy a view out of the room of her own life.

She has been living a suffocating, proper existence, and he will open the window for her. What’s exhilarating about the film is that it’s not only about perplexing and eccentric characters, it’s also about how they can change their lives.

The movie has been adapted from the E. M. Forster novel by three filmmakers who have specialized recently in film adaptations of literary works: director James Ivory , producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala . Their other recent credits include “ The Bostonians ,” “ The Europeans ” and “ Heat and Dust .” This is the best film they have made. It is an intellectual film, but intellectual about emotions: It encourages us to think about how we feel, instead of simply acting on our feelings. It shows us a young woman, Lucy Honeychurch, who is about to marry the wrong man – not because of her passion, but because of her lack of thought. Only think about your passion, the movie argues, and you will throw over Cecil and marry George. Usually, thought and passion are on opposite sides in the movies; this time it’s entertaining to find them on the same side.

The story moves at a deliberate pace, with occasional dramatic interruptions for great passion. The dialogue is stately and abstract, except when all of a sudden it turns direct and honest. The perfor- mances are perfectly balanced between the heart and the mind.

At the center of everything stands Lucy, who is played by Helena Bonham Carter, that dark-browed, stubborn little girl from “Lady Jane.” Maggie Smith is wonderfully dotty as her companion. Denholm Elliott , the most dependable of all British character actors, steals scene after scene as George’s free-thinking father. Julian Sands is the intense young George Emerson. And Daniel Day Lewis creates a masterpiece in his performance as Cecil; give him a monocle and a butterfly, and he could be on the cover of the New Yorker.

“A Room with a View” enjoys its storytelling so much that I enjoyed the very process of it. The story moved slowly, it seemed, for the same reason you try to make ice cream last: because it’s so good.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Julian Sands as George Emerson
• Simon Callow as The Rev. Beebe
• Daniel Day-Lewis as Cecil Vyse
• Judi Dench as Miss Lavish
• Denholm Elliott as Mr. Emerson
• Helena Bonham-Carter as Lucy Honeychurch
• Rosemary Leach as Mrs. Honeychurch
• Maggie Smith as Charlotte Bartlett

Based On The Novel by

• E. M. Forster
• Humphrey Dixon

Produced by

• Ismail Merchant

Directed by

• James Ivory
• Richard Robbins

Screenplay by

• Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Photographed by

• Tony Pierce-Roberts

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Parents' guide to, a room with a view.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 7 Reviews
• Kids Say 5 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Glorious romance most likely to appeal to older kids.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie deals with issues of intimacy and self-repression. There's nonsexualy male full-fruntal nudity as men bathe in a pond. A man is killed in a very brief knife fight.

Why Age 11+?

Brief nude scenes as the men go swimming (and as they run when the women approac

A character is stabbed and dies in a very brief fight; some blood shown.

Any Positive Content?

Following your heart, not society's or your family's expectations; livin

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Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief nude scenes as the men go swimming (and as they run when the women approach), overall theme of the importance of sensuality; some passionate kisses.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Following your heart, not society's or your family's expectations; living passionately, not quietly.

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents Say (7)
• Kids Say (5)

Based on 7 parent reviews

Boring fiances, unforgettable swimming scenes, and a room with a view

Tmi not for children younger than 16, what's the story.

Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) arrives in Italy with her straitlaced aunt Charlotte (Maggie Smith). Disappointed at not getting the room with a view they had been promised when making their reservations at the inn, they are not sure whether it is proper to accept the offer of Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliot) and his son George (Julian Sands), staying at the same inn, to switch rooms so they may have a view after all. Reassured by the clergyman, Mr. Beebe (Simon Callow), they agree. Later, out in the countryside, George impetuously kisses Lucy, and her aunt, horrified, whisks her back to England. There, Lucy is engaged to Cecil. The Emersons move into a cottage near the Honeychurch family, invited by Cecil, who does not realize that Lucy knows them. Lucy does her best to resist her attraction to George, but ultimately breaks the engagement to Cecil, marries George, and returns with him to the room with a view.

Is It Any Good?

This lush, satisfying romance is about having the courage to face one's feelings, and to risk intimacy, fully knowing and being known by another person. George never hesitates to take that risk. Cecil, sensitively played by Daniel Day-Lewis as a full character and not a caricature of a fop, has feelings but will never be able to "take to live as (he) plays." Clearly, he does care deeply for Lucy, but he does not have the passionate nature to respond to hers fully, as George does. As George says, Cecil "is the sort who can't know anyone intimately, least of all a woman," someone who wants Lucy as an ornament, perhaps to enjoy her passionate nature by proxy, not realizing that his own proximity is likely to stifle it. George wants Lucy "to have ideas and thoughts and feelings, even when I hold you in my arms."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how lush natural settings have a powerful effect on fictional characters, especially those in love, or wanting to fall in love. In Shakespeare, lovers go to the woods to straighten things out. In the British literature of the 19th and early 20th century, they often go to Italy, which represents freedom from repression. The wheat field where George kisses Lucy is in sharp contrast to the manicured lawns of the Honeychurch home, as the precise and cerebral Cecil is in contrast to the passionate George. Questions for Kids: What leads Lucy to break her engagement to Cecil? What leads her to accept her feelings for George. Mr. Emerson refers to a "Yes! And a Yes! And a Yes" at the "side of the Everlasting Why." What does this mean? What is the meaning of the title?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 1, 1985
• On DVD or streaming : November 13, 2001
• Cast : Daniel Day-Lewis , Helena Bonham Carter , Julian Sands , Maggie Smith
• Director : James Ivory
• Inclusion Information : Gay directors, Female actors
• Studio : Merchant-Ivory
• Genre : Romance
• Run time : 116 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : June 16, 2024

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THE SCREEN: 'ROOM WITH A VIEW

By Vincent Canby

• March 7, 1986

LUCY HONEYCHURCH would seem to be the quintessential, well-brought-up young woman of Edwardian England. She's pretty, polite and minds her elders, who believe in the efficacy of manners and the class system. In the genteel world in which Lucy has been raised, people are what they appear to be. Yet Lucy is seething with unrecognized passions. Says the startled clergyman, Mr. Beebe, when he hears Lucy playing Beethoven on the piano, ''If she ever takes to living as she plays, it will be very exciting -both for us and for her.''

For most of ''A Room With a View,'' E. M. Forster's third novel (1908), Lucy Honeychurch does her best not to live as she plays. While on a holiday in Florence, chaperoned by Charlotte Bartlett, her maiden cousin, Lucy has no idea that she's fallen in love with the socially unsuitable George Emerson. In the course of a picnic, the handsome, commonsensical young George, carried away by Lucy and the Tuscan scenery, has kissed her cheek - and turned Lucy's world onto its ear.

Lucy Honeychurch could be the giddy aunt to the hermetically sealed Adela Quested, who causes all the fuss in Forster's ''Passage to India'' (1924). Lucy is as self-deceiving as Adela and, with the highest of ladylike resolve, nearly ruins her own life as well as the lives of everyone around her. Yet she doesn't. Lucy isn't a tragic character.

Because common sense triumphs, ''A Room With a View'' is not only uncharacteristically benign for Forster, but also blithely, elegantly funny, which is a fit description of the first-rate film adaptation that opens today at the Paris.

As they've been doing now for over 20 years, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who wrote the screenplay for ''A Room With a View''; James Ivory, who directed it, and Ismail Merchant, the producer, have created an exceptionally faithful, ebullient screen equivalent to a literary work that lesser talents would embalm.

The Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala ''Room With a View'' is like a holiday out of time. It's a journey into another dimension as it travels from the dangerously seductive settings of Florence, with its foul smells and Renaissance glories, to the more serene landscapes of England, where undeclared wars are fought over tea cups. Back home, Lucy compounds her ''muddle'' by becoming engaged to the supposedly suitable Cecil Vyse, who is far more in love with himself and his own responses to ''Art'' than he is with now increasingly restive Lucy.

''A Room With a View'' is full of rich roles, splendidly acted by a cast made up of both newcomers and familiar performers like Maggie Smith and Denholm Elliott, who seem to keep getting better and better with time. Miss Smith plays Charlotte, Lucy's high-minded but meddlesome cousin, the sort of woman whose worst foible is gossip and not, as she claims, ''the prompt settling of accounts.'' Very much her match is Mr. Elliott, who plays George Emerson's father, a retired Socialist newspaperman and the only character in the film who is capable of expressing his feelings directly.

The real star of the film, though, is the very beautiful Helena Bonham Carter, seen here recently in the title role of ''Lady Jane.'' As Lucy Honeychurch, Miss Bonham Carter gives a remarkably complex performance of a young woman who is simultaneously reasonable and romantic, generous and selfish, and timid right up to the point where she takes a heedless plunge into the unknown.

Spectacular, too, is a new young actor named Daniel Day Lewis, who plays the insufferable Cecil Vyse with a style and a wit that are all the more remarkable when compared to his very different characterization in ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' (review on page C8). Julian Sands, who played the English photographer in ''The Killing Fields,'' is equally good as the utterly straightforward George Emerson.

Among the noteworthy supporting performers are Judi Dench as Miss Lavish, the ubiquitous ''female novelist'' Lucy meets in Florence; Simon Callow as clergyman, Mr. Beebe, and Rosemary Leach as Lucy's mother.

The film, photographed by Tony Pierce-Roberts, looks terrific, but maybe more important than anything else is the narrative tone. Mr. Ivory and Miss Jhabvala have somehow found a voice for the film not unlike that of Forster, who tells the story of ''A Room With a View'' with as much genuine concern as astonished amusement. That's quite an achievement. Another Dimension A ROOM WITH A VIEW, directed by James Ivory; screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, based on the novel by E. M. Forster; photography by Tony Pierce-Roberts; edited by Humphrey Dixon; music by Richard Robbins; produced by Ismail Merchant; released by Cinecom International Films. At Paris, Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. Running time: 115 minutes.

This film has no rating. Charlotte BartlettMaggie Smith Lucy HoneychurchHelena Bonham Carter Mr. EmersonDenholm Elliott George EmersonJulian Sands Cecil VyseDaniel Day Lewis Mr. BeebeSimon Callow Miss LavishJudi Dench Mrs. HoneychurchRosemary Leach Freddy HoneychurchRupert Graves Mr. EagerPatrick Godfrey Catherine AlanFabia Drake Teresa AlanJoan Henley

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A Room With a View Reviews

The performances -- particularly by Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter and Denholm Elliot -- are superbly wrought in this tale of conflicting cultures, embattled sexes and changing values.

Full Review | Jul 30, 2024

The beauty of the Italian and English countrysides, the acting of Maggie Smith and Denholm Elliott and the immediacy of a particularly brutal killing all combine to make this one of the most visually affecting films you'll see all year.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 27, 2024

Adapted by Merchant Ivory from EM Forster’s novel, this is a lush wallow in nostalgic romanticism.

Full Review | Dec 19, 2023

A Room With a View is an outstanding period piece. It captures Forster's characters in their milieu with a temperament that effectively stirs modern-day sensitivities.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 3, 2021

The simple story is embroidered with delightful dialogue and rare characterizations.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Nov 2, 2021

Episode 11: Moving On

Full Review | Original Score: 60/100 | Sep 1, 2021

"A Room With a View" is an artistically told tale of a Victorian-era "Little-Miss-Can't-Be-Wrong" learning to follow her heart and live her bliss.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 14, 2020

As in all Ivory films, the movie has a delightful pace, as if the director were enjoying himself so much that he wanted to take maximum care with each frame of celluloid so that his audience could share his pleasure.

Full Review | Nov 15, 2019

If amusing, "A Room With a View" is little more than a lark, a series of skits, a two-hour tribute to the rich British eccentric.

Full Review | Jan 4, 2018

The film's charms are many but they are not the sort that resonate with any aspect of human behaviour with which I am familiar. When you get this English, or this Edwardian, or, rather, late Victorian, really, it's like science fiction, I suppose.

Full Review | Nov 17, 2015

A 19-year-old Helena Bonham Carter makes her striking film debut.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 10, 2015

The highlight [of the film] may be Daniel Day-Lewis going full Urkel as Cecil, Lucy's nebbish fianc.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.5/10 | Oct 6, 2015

Glorious romance most likely to appeal to older kids.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 21, 2010

A thoroughly entertaining screen adaptation of novelist E.M. Forster's comedy of manners about the Edwardian English upper class at home and abroad, distinguished by superb ensemble acting, intelligent writing and stunning design.

Full Review | Nov 19, 2008

Merchant Ivory's first artistic and commercial hit is a light, well-acted, nicely mounted comedy of manners based on Forster's classic novel; Daniel Day-Lewis steals all of his scenes

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 25, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2008

Romance needs laughs, kisses, and thoughtful physical expression. And a room with a view.

Full Review | Original Score: FIVE STARS | Feb 21, 2008

Decent, honest, truthful and, dearest of all to Forster, it connects.

Full Review | Feb 9, 2006

James Ivory directs this gentle, poetic, comic film with grace and passion for its characters in this adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Jan 15, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 4, 2004

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

A room with a view.

• 100 Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune More than a great love story. It's both a lighthearted and deeply impassioned inspirational lesson about life. [4 April 1986]
• 100 Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert A Room with a View enjoys its storytelling so much that I enjoyed the very process of it. The story moved slowly, it seemed, for the same reason you try to make ice cream last: because it's so good.
• 100 Entertainment Weekly Entertainment Weekly A movie with exquisite period detail. [8 Apr 1994]
• 90 Time Richard Schickel Time Richard Schickel Two cheers, at least, for permitting the past to appear not as a stern lesson but as a delicious irrelevance. [10 Mar 1986]
• 90 Variety Variety Distinguished by superb ensemble acting, intelligent writing and stunning design.
• 90 Film.com John Hartl Film.com John Hartl Perhaps the primary reason A Room With a View is so involving is that Ivory has cast the film perfectly, and given each of the actors ample room to breathe. Even the characters you're not supposed to like are allowed their moments of vulnerable humanity.
• 80 TV Guide Magazine TV Guide Magazine It's hard to believe A Room With a View cost so little; the costumes and sets are dazzling and the acting is superb--from two-time Oscar-winner Smith to the smallest role, there's not a false note.
• 70 Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon It's all rather amusing, but after awhile you tire of all the perfect little nuances about characters who seem like prototypes for a certain type of Victorian novel. [6 Mar 1986, p.23(E)]
• 60 The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann Bonham Carter is like an undergraduate in a university production who seems rather good considering that her performance is only an intelligent diversion while she prepares herself for a career in another field. [24 Mar 1986]
• 30 Chicago Reader Chicago Reader Though it's meant as a droll comedy of manners, what emerges is mincing, crabbed, and petty.
• See all 21 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for A Room with a View

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