Stephen Soucy delves into the creative and personal partnership of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory which produced some of Britain's greatest literary adaptations.
Partners in film as well as in life, Indian producer Ismail Merchant and American writer/director James Ivory made 44 films together under the banner of their brainchild: Merchant Ivory Productions. Their impressive catalogue, made up mostly of literary adaptations, boasts some of cinema’s most acclaimed independent period dramas: A Room with a View, Maurice, Howard’s End and The Remains of the Day.
Stephen Soucy’s affectionate yet scattershot documentary on this 40-year partnership explores the overlap between the two as lovers and as collaborators, offering a broad overview of their life’s work, and fondly detailing the lengths to which the duo would go to turn shoestring budgets into meticulously crafted, tasteful films.
Right off the bat, we hear from about a dozen talking heads from the Merchant Ivory family, including Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant, all affectionately sharing anecdotes about the duo’s creative synergy; the juxtaposition of Merchant’s relentless, chaotic hustling and Ivory’s calm artistic vision. Ivory is also interviewed rather extensively, recounting his tumultuous relationship with Merchant. The duo’s Indian collaborators are largely absent though, and it all comes together in a rather shallow, often frustrating attempt to bottle up a significant piece of late 20th century film history, devoid of that touch of Merchant Ivory movie magic.
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Published 10 Dec 2024
Two cinema giants are the subjects of this new biodoc.
Too long and haphazardly structured.
Serviceable enough as a helpful primer to the MICU.
James Ivory and Ismail Merchant’s stunning 1987 love story prizes sensuality over intellectualism.
James Ivory reminisces about a youthful year spent in Afghanistan with this cozy archival documentary.
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