So another Merchant-Ivory, and another UK period drama, so what?! It passes the time nicely enough but there is little here to stir anything. Good performances from some excellent actors/actresses notwithstanding, the plot is pretty poor, and the characters of the leading protagonists - eg Bonham Carter and Sands - do not make us really believe in this piece. There are some interesting background moments about the period - Rosemary Williams dressing to be fully buttoned up as women of the period did, and the nude bathing (far too long) indicating the famous poem about the opening of the First World War - 'Swimmers into cleanness leaping'- and the fate that lay in wait for a generation of young Edwardian men. But not enough. Insular British snobbery goes down well in the US I suppose, but pretty pictures and langourous hot summers do not make films interesting of themselves.
Review of A Room with a View
