MERCHANT/IVORY
UK, 2023, 110 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Stephen Soucy.
Many filmgoers will have very happy memories of the names Merchant/Ivory. There will be going back to A Room with a View, Howard’s End, Remains of the Day and other films produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by James ivory. But, the company had a 40 year history, initially filming in India, then in the US and, in their heyday, in Britain.
The great advantage is throughout the film, the interview with James Ivory himself as he moves towards his mid--90s, as well as footage over the decades.
Film buffs will especially appreciate this documentary as it opens with a survey of the team’s achievements, introducing quite a number of actors from their films who contribute anecdotes as well as insights, especially Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave, Rupert Graves, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Greta Scacchi, Simon Callow, James Fox, James Wilby, Samuel West, Madhur Jaffrey… There are quite a number of members of the company, producers, editors, costume and set designers… who all are given quite a significant amount of time for their commentary.
The film is designed in chapters after this overview prologue, a portrait of James ivory himself, American, gay, meticulous filmmaker long career and an Oscar in 2018 for Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by your Name. Later there is a portrait of Indian Ismail Merchant, family background, education in the US, producer extraordinaire with more than a touch of the conman and bluff especially for raising money, partner with Ivory, personal partnership for 40 years. In fact, there is also a chapter on Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German born novelist, long resident in India and England, Booker Prize winner, writer of so many of the Merchant Ivory screenplays.
The audiences may not have seen the films that Merchant/Ivory made in the 1970s and 1980s in India, Householder, Shakespeare Wallah, but they will find this chapter unexpected and interesting.
And, there is also a chapter on sexual orientation issues, the partnership of James ivory and Ismail Merchant, their resident composer, Richard Robbins, ivory explaining his experience of his homosexuality, the contrast with reticence in India for Merchant, and, especially, their 1987 film, Maurice, from E.M. Forster’s novel published only after the novelist’s death) but bringing the orientation issues to a wider public, the reputation enhanced by the success two years earlier with A Room with a View.
A great deal of attention is given to the two adaptations from Forster novels, A Room with a View and Howard’s End. An opportunity for audiences to relive their experiences of watching these films. And, significant attention to one of their greatest achievements, Remains of the cab day.
Attention is given to some of the adaptations of novels by Henry James, especially The Bostonians. And the regrets that after Remains of the Day, the films did not have the same impact but, as is suggested, they are well worth seeing in the retrospect of the careers of Merchant/Ivory.
For audiences interested in cinema, for admirers of Merchant/Ivory, two hours well spent.
