A few thoughts about A Room With a View (1985) and the 2007 remake.

The Merchant Ivory production of E.M. Forster’s A Room With a View (1985) is without a doubt one of my favorite films. I have never stopped loving it, and I’ve seen it many times. I was Lucy’s age when I saw it for the first time, so the story of a young girl learning to be emotionally honest and finding the courage to ignore convention and follow her own heart resonated with me. And the film was so beautiful. And Lucy’s brother Freddy played by Rupert Graves… I’ll never forget the way his silky, baby fine hair would cascade over his face when he lowered his head. He was so adorable. I ached to be Freddy’s special friend. (As most everyone knows, Graves went on to play Scudder in Merchant Ivory’s production of Maurice.)

There was a made-for-TV remake in 2007 which aired on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater. I wanted to see it even though I knew it couldn’t possibly be as good as the movie I fell in love with, but I missed it. Then I moved to California, and I just never got around to seeing it…until today.

As expected, I didn’t like it nearly as much as I do the Merchant Ivory production, but it was a pretty good made-for-TV movie. They boy they got to play Freddy was pretty cute, too. Not nearly as impressive as Rupert Graves was when he played Freddy, but the new Freddy was sweet. The ending of the makeover left me a bit baffled. [Spoilers.] I realize they probably wanted to make their remake distinctive in some way, but I just didn’t like the new ending. In the book written more than 100 years ago and in the Merchant Ivory production which is now 30 years old, Lucy finally accepts that she’s in love with George. The two marry and return to Italy for their honeymoon. Well, that happened in the 2007 remake, as well, but then we learn that George was killed in the war, leaving Lucy a widow. After the war, Lucy returns to Italy yet again, and there she encounters the Italian carriage driver…the one who really liked his “sister.” The final scene shows the two of them having a romantic picnic near the meadow where George kissed Lucy and looking at one another longingly. I could hardly believe my eyes.