A Room with a View
Originally published on June 26th, 2022
A year ago this month, I found out that I had failed a significant assessment. I don’t cry easy, and yet I would randomly just start crying at random times as feelings of utter, wretched stupidity washed over me. What that thing was doesn’t matter anymore because God has healed my heart and my self confidence, but I bring all this up to say that God brought this book and film to me at the time when I needed it most. “A Room with A View” was not only a welcomed distraction, but a reminder that God can move in mysterious and romantic ways, and that our imperfections cannot stop His will from being done. To me, destiny is another way of describing God’s will, and this film is all about destiny and all those connections we make that we cannot explain, but that are just feel…right.
One of the best things about this film is how accurate it is to E.M. Forster’s novel. I read the book first and then watched the movie and the film truly exceeded my expectations. If you’ve read the book, you remember the one hilarious scene that involves male nudity. Well…that’s definitely in the movie, but it’s done with as much class as possible and isn’t crude, but has an almost adolescent innocence about it as it should.
The tone of this film is absolutely perfect, and that’s due to two things: production design and the cast. In many ways, this film is a work of art. The majority of shots are perfectly lovely, the lighting is warm, the artwork featured is inspiring, and the soundtrack highlights Puccini. Ah, does it get more romantic than Puccini?
The cast features many famous names including Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis, Dame Judi Dench, and Dame Maggie Smith. All of their performances were spectacular and they embodied their designated characters with finesse. However, I think the more underrated actors in this film are the two actors who play the Emersons: Julian Sands and Denholm Elliott. The Emersons are already quirky and lovable, but both men brought out attributes in the characters that had not fully developed in my imagination prior to watching this film.