A Room with a View (HD DVD, 2007, Special Edition)

The minute that you turn this 1986 movie on your DVD player, you will be oohing and aahing over the gorgeous scenery and mesmerized by the seductive classical music that accompanies the story.

Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) and her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett(Maggie Smith) are in Florence during the Edwardian age in England (late 1880s, I presume). Their first disappointment is that they have been booked into a room in the pensione (hotel) without a view of the Arno River and all of the sights of the city. But then Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliot) and his son George (Julian Sands) offer to switch rooms with them. Then we start to see the snobbery and easily offended ways of the British during this time. But the Emersons are not snobs--they are free spirits, and Mr. Emerson is worried about his son who is very romantic but lacks a lady.

The first mingling of the two young leads occurs when they are touring the city, and a murder happens in the courtyard where all the famous statues can be found (David, Poseidon, and more). Lucy faints, and George comes to her rescue. Lucy, being very sheltered, gets away from George. But then during a picnic in the Tuscan countryside, he steals a passionate kiss with her, and she responds. Her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett is horrified and terminates the whole trip.

Back in England, Lucy quickly becomes engaged to a fastidious snob Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day Lewis). He is mesmerized by her piano artistry but lacks the ability to even kiss her. Additionally, he expresses his superior attitude about his family over Lucy's, and is turned off by the Honeychurch ability to have fun with sports and the piano.

And then the fun begins when Cecil runs into the Emersons at a London museum and recommends that they move to the little village. Now that George is present in the little village in England, will Lucy be able to deny her feelings for him, will she marry Cecil, and definitely more exciting things are about to happen.

This movie was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 3 Oscars--adapted screenplay (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala), costume design, and art direction. Additionally, it established its director James Ivory as an expert in bringing British period pieces to the screen. Ivory would also give credit to his partner Ismail Merchant, who also worked with him on "Howard's End" and "Maurice."

My only warning is that this movie has a "bathing" scene in a small country lake with full frontal nudity of 3 of the male characters. Therefore, be careful with children seeing this otherwise lovely experience.