A Room with a View (1985)

Second viewing; first viewed on March 27, 1987.

Based on the novel by E.M. Forster, first published in 1908.

Lucy is a young upper-class Englishwoman who is in Florence with her chaperone, as a tourist. At the boarding house where they are staying she meets several English people, including handsome George and his father, two middle-class tourists. One day, George kisses Lucy forcibly. Some time later, back in England, his father moves to near where she lives, and the young man comes to visit frequently. Meanwhile, Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil, an intellectual type from the same social class as she.

This is one of those films on which I differed so completely from everyone else that I just had to give it another chance. And, now that I did, I can say that, though I really was too harsh on it, I still differ from everyone else about it. There are some comic sequences, mostly involving character Charlotte, which are actually quite entertaining, I will give it that. But, all things taken into account, there is not enough to this movie to justify all the awe it inspired. Perhaps the novel, which I haven't read, would enlighten a few points, but, from what I gathered by watching the movie, there isn't much originality or consistence in the events woven by the screenwriter. Of course, characters are allowed to be contradictory and confused, but in this film they are just, well, too mysterious. At one point, George says that he, unlike Cecil, is able to respect a woman as a full human being, with wishes and thoughts of her own. But what we see is quite the opposite of that. George is impulsive, self-absorbed and even prone to forcing a woman to satisfy his wishes, whereas Cecil respectfully asks her before kissing her. As I said, perhaps such contradictions are part of the writer's design, but then again, I think this aspect should be a little more fully fleshed out (perhaps in the novel it is, but, as I said, I haven't read it, so I can't tell). Furthermore, the incredible coincidence which makes the plot possible is slightly annoying, and even more so is that the movie has the gall to deny it with the most feeble explanation. But these are mere examples. I guess the main point of the film is to contrast the sanguine and phlegmatic characters, with considerations about how they are influenced by the climate, and by social class. But it never transcends the level of cliché and, all things considered, makes for an unsatisfactory movie.

Rating: 46 (up from 30)