A Tribute to James Ivory: Maurice
Description
Born in Berkeley, James Ivory is beloved by cinephiles the world over for the films he directed under the Merchant Ivory Productions banner. His association with Ismail Merchant lasted 44 years and through more than 25 films, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history. He’s been nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs, twice winning the BAFTA for Best Film for Room with a View (1985) and Howards End (1993). Fall 2017 will see the release of the highly acclaimed Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino, for which Ivory wrote the screenplay. This 30th anniversary presentation of Maurice is a 4K restoration overseen by Ivory and cinematographer Piere Lhomme.
A diffident man in Edwardian England runs the risk of losing status and even his freedom if he follows his heart in James Ivory’s elegant, erotically charged adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel. While a student at Cambridge, Maurice (James Wilby) falls passionately in love with Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) who, however, feels their affair should remain platonic. While at Durham’s country home, Maurice is seduced by Durham’s under gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves) and—despite all the obstacles to same-sex relationships that existed in England at that time—the two throw in their lot together, providing a rare happy ending for this landmark LGBTQ film. This 30th anniversary presentation is being screened in a new 4K digital restoration overseen by Ivory and cinematographer Pierre Lhomme.
James Ivory began his career as a documentary filmmaker before beginning his nearly six-decade career in narrative filmmaking with The Householder (1963), a film that also began his decades-long partnerships with producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Among his films are The Guru (1969); Savages (1972); Heat and Dust (1983); Maurice (1987), the winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival; and three films for which Ivory received Best Director Oscar nominations, A Room with a View (1985), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Fall 2017 will see the release of the highly acclaimed Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino, for which Ivory wrote the screenplay.
Film Details
Language English
Year 1987
Runtime 140
Country UK
Director James Ivory
Producer Ismail Merchant
Writer James Ivory, Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Editor Katherine Wenning
Cinematographer Piere Lhomme
Music Richard Robbins
Cast James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves