One doesn’t come to Italy for niceness – one comes for life, said Mrs. Lavish while walking through the streets of the beautiful city of Florence, heading for Santa Croce together with Lucy Honeychurch, one of the main characters of the film A room with a view.
Lucy and her cousin Charlotte had traveled together from England to sunny Italy to acculturate themselves to the great artistic Italian culture. Actually, this was the reason Lucy decided to embark for such a trip, Charlotte being the poor relative that travels on the expense of her richer aunt, Lucy’s mother, which is why we see her acting very protective toward her younger cousin, like a chaperon, as if this was her duty, a way to pay for her aunt’s generosity.
At the Bertolini pension where they were staying, Lucy befriended Mrs. Lavish, a writer who pretended to know Florence by heart, so the former followed the later without any misgivings. Bad choice, they soon find themselves lost in a foreign city, much to the thrill of Mrs. Lavish:
W hat are we to do? Two lone females in an unknown town. Now, this is what I call an adventure.
But the real challenge for Lucy is when Mr. Emerson – a weird old man boarding at the same Bertolini pension – encourage her to take an interest in his son George try to understand him, giving her freudian reasons:
By understanding George you may learn to understand yourself. It will be good for both of you.
Miss Lucy Honeychurch is a well mannered yet quite naive young lady living in an Edwardian England in an upper class family. She thinks that all people are what they seem to be and believes that everybody means well and has a gentle heart. Yet under her tender and sweet manners, one might guess her disturbing passions that are kept well locked inside, her desire to experience the life at its fullest and to free herself from the restrictive petty rules of the Edwardian society.
Mr. Beebe, the vicar, once heard Lucy playing passionately a sonate by Beethoven and cannot refrain to notice that:
If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting both for us and for her. Mr. Beebe vicar.
George Emerson, the other main character in this old-fashioned movie, is what you can call today what-you-see-is-what-you-get type. A very refreshing personality for I like very much people that say what they mean. He is very passionate, as well as being quite inclined to philosophy, and a reliable character who understands women’s desire to have their own voice, their own ambitions.
Lanscapes in Florence and Tonbridge Well are amazing
A room with a view was shot on location in Tonbridge Wells, Kent and in Florence, Italy, right where the action happens.
Leave a Reply