Jul 25th   
A Room with a View***    
(GB 1985)  
Curzon/Goldcrest/Film Four/Merchant-Ivory. 117m.

A chaperoned girl on holiday in Florence encounters love.
The first major success of the Merchant-Ivory team, dismissed by some as perriod-obsessed and lacking a cutting edge, and admittedly a little self-consciously stylized in its acting and presentation, but a welcome breath of fresh air in a 1980s dominated by blockbusters and violent action thrillers, with its captivating blend of operatic music and classical painting-style imagery.

Written by: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, from the novel by E.M. Forster.
Producer: Ismail Merchant.
Director: James Ivory.
Starring: Helena Bonha Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day Lewis, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Rosemary Leach, Patrick Godfrey, Fabia Drake, Joan Henley, Rupert Graves.
Photography: Tony Pierce Roberts.
Music: Richard Robbins, Puccini (solos sung by Kiri Te Kanawa).