A fresh and poignant adaptation of E.M. Forster’s classic novel, A Room with a View tells the story of the coming of age of Lucy Honeychurch in 1912 Florence, Italy. Longing to burst free from the repression of British upper class manners and mores, she must wrestle with her inner romantic longings to choose between the passionate George and the priggish but socially suitable Cecil.
“[Elaine] Cassidy gives an exceptionally natural performance as Lucy, engaging in the age-old and very Jane Austin-ish internal battle between heart and head.” – Brian Lowry, Variety
“As always with these English productions, the scenery is sumptuous, the settings lavish, the acting impeccable.” – Robert P. Laurence, SanDiego.com
Starring Elizabeth McGovern, Timothy Spall, Sophie Thompson, Elaine Cassidy, Laurence Fox.
Shown on Masterpiece Theatre. An IWC / WGBH Boston Co-production.
Note: The screenplay for this adaptation was written by Andrew Davies (“Without spoiling the period feel, we wanted A Room with a View to feel modern in terms of the relationships and emotions.”) It was not received fantastically well, on two accounts: 1) The Merchant Ivory 1986 film was just so splendid, and this version seems pale in comparison, and 2) based on a postscript Forster wrote in 1958, imagining what might have happened to the characters, Davies has written a new ending.
“But, despite the Davies-isms, conversely, his version is more true to EM Forster’s novel and its themes and it brings out the class issue more.” – The Guardian
May be suitable for older children.