Is A Room With a View (1985) the best costume movie of all time? There’s a darn good chance that it is. It’s certainly in my personal top 5, and I usually find Edwardian costume to be relatively unexciting. It was Merchant/Ivory‘s big hit, Helena Bonham Carter‘s breakout, and set the stage for quality films with historical settings in the late 1980s and 1990s. I’ve wanted to review it FOREVER, but I’ve been daunted because it is SUCH A FRICKIN’ MASTERPIECE, and I knew any review I wrote (beyond my short review) would need to pull out as many stops as possible. So, here we go, with all the info I can track down and about 5 million screencaps of pretty much ALL the women’s costumes.
Read all of this review of A Room With a View (1985) here!
Don’t want to wait next time? Pledge a small amount each month on Patreon to keep our site running, and in return, you’ll get access to subscriber-only content like this.
I plan to keep this and drool over it from time to time. This movie was life changing for me.
Love this movie and the costumes. Really enjoyable to look at them in detail.
Re: the bright-colored ensemble Lucy wears to church: I’ve always thought it was a nod to the book!
(Before going to church, just as in the movie.) “Presently Lucy steps out of the drawing-room window. Her new cerise dress has been a failure, and makes her look tawdry and wan.”
Such loving attention to detail on every level in this movie. <3
ooo, that’s super cool that it’s in the book!
Great cast! You gotta love a movie with both Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench! Not to mention HBC, and with her hair combed yet!
I am not ashamed to admit this movie was very much part of my becoming a woman.
Julian Sands AND Rupert Graves. I die.
Dear SarahV,
I feel you – and: never be ashamed ;-)
I am neither woman, nor will I ever be.
But nevertheless old enough to remember seeing this movie as a ‘blushing boy’.
This movie – with these fine, nubile young gentlemen.
It didn’t hurt that, for such an opulently costumed feature, a certain scene had them (accompanied by someone more ‘mature’ – offering something-for-everyone) frolicking without a single stitch of those!
Though I would not say I died – I’d sooner say something sprang to life!
In the subsequent Ivory/Merchant MAURICE we see gorgeous young Mr. Graves again.
In -and yes, sometimes out- of the most fabulous period ‘threads’ he manages to convince the protaganist to throw all caution/ convention to the wind. Wouldn’t we all?
My advice: (if you haven’t)
SEE IT!
Fortunately -somewhat obscure/ difficult to find/ see/ locate before- since it’s fully restored HD-re-release from a few years ago, it is readily available. BlueRay and all.
As it SHOULD BE – SEE IT
Also, as I sit here, I must sit back in awe of Maggie Smith in prime and her astonish elegant and sculptural bone structure.
No wonder her son is teh Hottest. ™
Wow, these are so gorgeous. I really like this era in clothes (and the one that follows, with the waist going a bit higher)… I wish I could carry off the frilliness of the glorious white dresses but I think it’s probably too much for me in both shape and temperament. I love to look at it though, and those menswear-inspired outfits I’d love to try for sometime. I absolutely must watch this film, if just to drool over the costumes.
Are there any recent films set in this period (1900s) that have used vintage garments to this same degree?