A Room with a View

1986 • 117 minutes

About this movie

Merchant Ivory Productions, led by director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, became a household name with A Room with a View, the first of their extraordinary adaptations of E. M. Forster novels. A cherubic nineteen-year-old Helena Bonham Carter plays Lucy Honeychurch, a young, independent-minded, upper-class Edwardian woman who is trying to sort out her burgeoning romantic feelings, divided between an enigmatic free spirit (Julian Sands) she meets on vacation in Florence and the priggish bookworm (Daniel Day-Lewis) to whom she becomes engaged back in the more corseted Surrey. Funny, sexy, and sophisticated, this gargantuan art-house hit features a sublime supporting cast—including Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Denholm Elliott, Maggie Smith—and remains a touchstone of intelligent romantic cinema.

Ratings and reviews

I grew up watching this fabulous film, and the beautiful score and witty lines still stick with me today. Helena Bonham Carter was in the dawn of her acting career and fits her young, naïve, romanticized role perfectly, and the entire cast is full of talent, sweeping you into the story alongside them. The cinematography is gorgeous, the story romantic and humorous. You won't regret this one.

Have loved this one for years! Quirky, eccentric, funny, tender and amazingly sweet! Helena was at her best here to me...they all are. Daniel Day-Lewis, loved in this and Last of the Mohicans...

Simply one of the best movies ever made. Absolutely intoxicating!