May 25, 2005

E.M. Forster And The Movies

I see where Ismail Merchant, half of the Merchant/Ivory film-making duo, has died.

As faithful readers know, I tend to be extremely cranky about film adaptations of literature, at least of books that I know and love. But Room With A View has always been one of my favorite movies. I confess that I only read the novel once, and that a long time ago, so for all my expertice, Merchant and Ivory might have gone completely bananas. However, what I remember thinking at the time was that they had got it bang on - the tone, the style, the story and so forth.

If there are any Forster afficionados out there, I'd be interested to hear what you think about this.

Posted by Robert at May 25, 2005 04:20 PM
Comments

I've only read "A Passage to A Place Whose Name Your Blog is Not Accepting for Questionable Content." (I-N-D-I-A).

I liked it, Forster can definitely write.

I thought the film adaptation of it wasn't bad, either.

Posted by: The Colossus at May 25, 2005 04:49 PM

I definitely thought it was bang on. And Howards End is one of my favorite books of ALL TIME ... and the movie is fantastic. It "gets" the book, if you know what I mean. The deeper themes, what it's really about. Great work.

Posted by: red at May 25, 2005 05:45 PM

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. And from what I recollect, Forster's style was one that allowed a screenplay to "get" his deeper meaning without sacrificing the surface integrity, so to speak. I think that some authors are simply more translatable to the screen than others in that way.

Posted by: Robert the LB at May 25, 2005 06:05 PM

I would definitely recommend "Where Angels Fear to Tread" to anyone who hasn't read Forster. "Howard's End" is great as well.

"The Longest Jouney" takes a little more patience, but I think it's one of his best.

As for the Merchant/Ivory adaptations of his books, I agree with Red - in addition to their understanding the "story within the story" in Howard's End, Room With a View, and Maurice, it would have been very easy for someone else to miss the (at times) subtle sarcasm and wit that Forster's writing conveyed so well.

Posted by: John from WuzzaDem at May 25, 2005 06:22 PM
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