Maurice - The Merchant Ivory Collection
by James Ivory
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Actor: Denholm Elliott, Hugh Grant, James Wilby, Rupert Graves, Simon CallowDirector: James Ivory
Brand: Image Entertainment
Producer: Ismail Merchant
Writer: E.M. Forster
Writer: Kit Hesketh-Harvey
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Merchant Ivory
DVD Reviews of Maurice - The Merchant Ivory Collection
DVD Review: Almost perfect adaptation of an underappreciated novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Sometimes the best adaptations are those which do the least amount of adapting. That is, they more or less just put the dialogue as it is in the book onto the screen. In that respect, the novel by E.M. Forster must be a director's dream, because the dialogue is sharp and already reads like a script (a bit like "Brideshead Revisited" by Waugh). And I am glad to say, this minimal approach is what Merchant/Ivory used here, so almost all the best scenes in the novel are also in the movie (and the rest are in the deleted scenes, which are also included on the DVDs).
"Maurice" has often been called a lesser work by Forster, likes Gide's "Corydon" a mere effort to justify the author's homosexuality. However, while the topic was obviously important to Forster, the novel does not sacrifice style for message. The overall construction of plot and characters is very clear and straightforward and less flowery than his other novels. When his other books are heavy in "female dialogue", this one ultimately maintains that deeds are more important than words (and in fact Maurice says so in the beginning), and that physical love is more worthwhile than the upper-class discussing how the have a piano removed from under a crack in the ceiling. So in a way "Maurice" satirizes Forster's earlier works, and maybe that is why many Forster fans don't seem to like it.
I was initially a bit apprehensive about the choice of cast, since Wilby does not exactly look like I imagined the character from the novel and Graves is a bit too much the 1980s pretty boy to be believable as the rugged groundskeeper. Also, Grant has been mostly playing annoying roles ever since the "Four Funerals...", so I was not expecting much of him here. But fortunately, the performances are all very good and -- in the case of Grant -- almost make you forget all the low-quality movies he has been in since.
When I picked this title up I did not even realize it was from the Criterion Collection (it is only mentioned in tiny type on the back cover -- why?), so you actually get two DVDs, one with the movie, the other with extras. The transfer looks exquisite and really brings out the cozy interiors as well as the rainy and foggy outdoors (again, comparisons to the "Brideshead Revisited" adaptation with Jeremy Irons seem apt, and besides Phoebe Nicholls also stars in that).
The predictable extra features are present, like interviews and deleted scenes. You can tell the interviews were filmed with an American audience in mind when the three principal actors endlessly go on about how _they_ themselves are completely heterosexual (only Graves allows for a streak of bisexuality) and how difficult it was to do the love scenes.
This reminds me of the coverage of "Brokeback Mountain" -- apparently you can only make a film with gay themes for Americans if you assure the audience that (a) the actors are straight and (b) they absolutely had no fun at all when filming the intimate scenes. It makes you wonder who is more emotionally stunted, Edwardian England or modern America.
But that aside, the deleted scenes are all very interesting and I wish they would have remained in the movie. So did Ivory himself in his commentary. I would like to know why directors always like to cut 20-30 minutes from their movies only to later complain that they should have left the material in in the first place.
One of the things that is gone is the part when Maurice, in a sort of sexual frenzy, mounts a probably ill-advised seduction attempt on Dr Barry's 16-year-old nephew Dickie. Perhaps it is understandable this was left out, although this might have made Maurice's character a bit less angelic and more well-rounded. But it would also have been an easy target for detractors of the movie.
While it was a better idea to tell the first have half of a movie _not_ in a flashback as in the rough cut, we are missing some little moments here and there, such as when Maurice sees Alec flirting with some of the housemaids. A minor touch, but a reminder that Alec, like perhaps many members of the working-class, should really be considered bisexual. That is, his sexual orientation is not a conscious matter of inquiry of him, he just does what seems to feel right at the moment. That is of course also why a homosexual fling with Maurice is not a big problem to him.
Perhaps the main problem with the movie is that we see too much of Alec too soon, and from his point-of-view (e.g., the camera is behind his back when he is first seen stealing some pastries from a coffee table). In the novel, more distant glimpses of Scudder are gotten from Maurice's POV, who vacillates between attraction and disdain for him as a member for the lower classes.
The moment where Alec climbs into Maurice's bedroom is also not as well handled as in the novel -- in the novel Maurice calls out into the night (at no one in particular), only to have Alec appear on the ladder, which is more surprising and romantic. In the movie, we see Alec watching Maurice from the park as he climbs out the window himself and rocks the ladder. The surprise is spoilt, because we identify at that moment more with Alec than with Maurice.
Another change from the book concerns Clive's sudden motivation to "become" heterosexual. In the movie, an Oscar Wilde-like trial takes place that scares Clive into mending his ways. Then again, I always felt that Clive's 180° turn is actually quite easy to understand, because there really is no change at all: In the beginning, he effuses about Platonic love, which to him is an idea, not a physical reality. In the second half, he is equally exuberant about marriage, but again more as an idea than something sexual (his wife does not look like she gets much sex, or even expects it from her husband). Clive and Maurice are vastly different in that regard -- to Clive love is an idea, separate from reality, while to the less intellectually inclined Maurice it cannot be divorced from sex. And that is why their relationship goes nowhere.
But those are really only minor quibbles. All in all this a sumptuous adaptation of a well-conceived novel. Some adaptations change the plot or dialogue for no reason and make you wish that they had simply stuck to the source, but this one is smart in that it lets Forster's writing, its beautiful photography, and its evocative, wistful score speak for themselves.
Description of Maurice - The Merchant Ivory Collection
Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, E.M. Forster?s Maurice is a story of coming to terms with one?s sexuality and identity in the face of disapproval and misunderstanding. Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) find themselves in love at Cambridge. In a time when homosexuality was punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a complete secret, even though Clive refuses to allow their relationship to move beyond the boundaries of "platonic" love. After a friend is arrested and disgraced for "the unspeakable crime of the Greeks," Clive abandons his forbidden love, marries, and enters into the political arena. Maurice, however, struggles with questions of his identity and self-confidence, even seeking the help of a hypnotist to rid himself of his undeniable urges. But while staying with Clive and his shallow wife, Anne, Maurice is seduced by the affectionate and yearning servant Alec Scudder, (Rupert Graves), an event that brings about profound changes in Maurice?s life and outlook. Sparking direction by James Ivory, a distinguished performance from the ensemble cast, and a charged score by Richard Robbins all combine to create a film of undeniable power, one that is both romantic and moving, and a story of love and self-discovery for all audiences.Bestsellers in DVD
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