Maurice (1987) - Conversation with the Filmmakers

Entrevistas com o diretor James Ivory, o produtor Ismail Merchant e o compositor Richard Robbins.

[@CHPete]

These interviews are very nice to see. Forster himself, and Merchant and Ivory, called it a story with a happy ending. Yes. But the movie brings out so richly the poignant ending of Clive's story. He could not make the journey from head to heart, as Maurice had done.

[@leifandersson1886]

Very nicely expressed.

[@rumblefish9]

Pete C Clive was never going to win if he chose his heart. If he chose his heart, it will ultimately lead to his ruin. That is the great trajedy of his character. Clive's life was already planned out for him the minute he was born. The movie alludes to this plenty of times. There is immense pressure on him to follow his father's footsteps and take his place in high society. Clive being upper class, titled and heir (unlike Maurice who is middle class) made it that he had very little control of his own destiny. Clive was torn between a sense of duty and love and he ultimately sacrificed the latter to keep the former.

[@CHPete]

@@rumblefish9 Yes, I think the movie makes the point that a free choice is more feasible in the middle class. Maurice understood this. He met heart-to-heart with Clive one more time, and then no more.

[@odonata9838]

I'm still in shock that Merchant and Ivory are actual human beings! Their movies are pure heaven.

[@sailingsam3815]

Thanks for the film Mr. Ivory. It was an important film to experience in 1987.

[@cleenlivin]

This movie, along with A Room with a View and my favorite Remains of the Day are such great movies. The saying, they don't make em like this anymore comes to mind.

[@AlexSanchez-jv4ib]

When I was 14 years old, I saw this movie mentioned in a magazine… And I had my friend rent a VHS copy from the video store in the early 90s… I was probably too young to see this, but I’m grateful that I did… Because it saved my life, when I was going through a very difficult time ❤

[@pianolessonsboulder1894]

Only Merchant-Ivory could have made this film masterpiece. The pairing of Hugh Grant and James Wilby was perfect. The scenes at Cambridge were divine., as were the scenes of Edwardian elegance, and the irreconcilable conflict between the two cornerstones of Western civilization - Athenian Greek and Anglican Christian - was clearly delineated.

[@rubencamdyn9627]

I guess it's pretty randomly asking but does anybody know a good place to watch new tv shows online?

[@guillermomaison3457]

@Ruben Camdyn ehh lately I've been using Flixportal. You can find it on google =) -guillermo

[@rubencamdyn9627]

@Guillermo Maison thanks, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I really appreciate it !

[@guillermomaison3457]

@Ruben Camdyn glad I could help :D

[@rumblefish9]

And to think James Wilby wasn't supposed to be Maurice. They almost went with a different actor!

[@avanthiga8176]

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE FILMS

[@treesny]

I was in my 30s during the 1980s, and saw so many loved ones and colleagues pass away so suddenly in that first terrible decade of the AIDS epidemic, exacerbated by the horrible Reagan administration's indifference (RR would not utter the word "AIDS" for the first 5 years of his Presidency) and right-wing attempts at censorship of sexually honest material. James Ivory is 100% correct in his assessment as to why the film was so favorably received: it reasserted something entirely positive and hopeful about the potential for genuine love between men at a very dark time. And the film holds up, certainly one of the peaks of the Merchant/Ivory films, and composer Richard Robbins's masterpiece.

[@deegeraghty3421]

Lovely interview. So good to see and hear creative men who gave us these beautiful films. Thanks you for this.

[@Pitbull_Pup69]

I saw Maurice in my late teens while still living in Brazil. This movie was the light shed on the reality I had to yet better understand and accept. It was all the evidence I needed to erase the uncertainty I had about whether to embrace the love that I so desired. It was the push that helped me break though the barrier still in front of me, keeping me from where I needed to be. It changed me forever and, in me, forever left its mark.

[@philipofsparta1355]

I wrote about the score to this movie in my MA in film music dissertation. I noticed that the opening theme is in E Minor but is repeated at the end in Eb Major and likened it to the same scheme iin one of the Mahler symphonies. To this day, I have no idea if it was intentional.

[@ElenaBecerra-oi2tr]

pasa tu tesis aaaa

[@philipofsparta1355]

@@ElenaBecerra-oi2tr Si, gracias 👍

[@timages]

There are parts of the musical score which are truly remarkable, especially the ending with Clive closing the shutters, symbolizing the end of his earlier gay life. Ivory was quite right to remark that living a complete unapologetic life of a gay person was difficult then as it is now.

[@peterharms3639]

My most ever, of all time favourite movie, saw it on its release and every couple of years, ever since. Bravo. All you wonderful people who took E M Forster work and made it live.

[@marcvu4379]

One of my all time favorite as well. ❤

[@Cchouette]

Maurice, exquisite film by James Ivory dating from 1987 and adapted from the excellent book by E.M Forster (edited posthumously according to the wishes of the writer). Endless thanks for James Ivory ❤

[@brendamckay2618]

A beautiful, beautiful film- even better than the book, which is most unusual! It’s not surprising that it gave hope of a possible life to people hiding in the closet. 💜💜

[@treesny]

One of few entirely new incidents in the film is the entrapment and sentencing of Risley (actually based on a much later incident in English history; 1950s?), a very shrewd addition that shows what is at stake for Clive. (in an early cut of the film, Risley's suicide was shown as well.)

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

What Richard Robbins says is exactly how the film feels. He did an absolutely magnificent job. So haunting...

[@sumantabiswas3922]

Very nice

[@UrInMyZone]

How i wish they can remake this movie....this movie save many life in the community of LGBTQ+

honestly I feel like Call Me By Your Name in the Maurice for a newer generation. Elio's journey inspired me to come out

[@karlagmzm_]

@ that’s lovely ✨ congratulations

[@Smartychase]

What's wrong with the original?

[@pianolessonsboulder1894]

Why remake? It is perfect! You can't improve on perfection!

[@brendamckay2618]

@@pianolessonsboulder1894 Totally agreed! A remake would be going downhill

[@80hdbb]

what a beautiful bunch of people ❤

[@truthseekeralways7050]

Rest in Peace Rest in Power Rest in Heaven Ismail Merchant ❤️🕊️🌱💜❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💜💜💜💜💜❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@ThingsICantSayLove]

Beautiful story, beautiful actors, beautiful music, beautiful costumes This movie is amazing! A brilliant work. Thank u all for this art ❤️❤️

[@Premchik]

Surprisingly, the movie is deeper that how the filmmaker is describing it,

[@dobazajr]

A masterpiece. Just like a barrel of an old-aged wine - gets better with time.

[@j.d.9842]

Dear Mr. Ivory, could you please make a sequel to "Maurice"? For me, you are one of the best filmmakers with all your attention to meaningful, well-thought-out script, acting, level of detail, music, etc. I admire all of your films. Thank you very much.

[@markporter9075]

I loved this film very much and am so happy they made it. Forester's novel is difficult to read because he was trying to image the unimaginable, a world in which two men with social standing could be a couple. It's a pitty that Ivory did not address the solution to explaining why Clive went straight. In the novel, he just appears to discover women out of nowhere. It sounds hard to accept. However, ini the film, they had an entire side story of a viscount who gets arrested and charge with a crime for his behavior with soldiers. Clive decides he has to take a wife and lose any love with Maurice to remain a barrister and avoid arrest. I wish Ivory had talked about that.

[@treesny]

According to James Ivory, it was their regular screenwriter, Ruth Prawer Jbabvala -- who had turned down "Maurice" as she considered it a not-first-rate novel (Kit Hesketh-Harvey did the adaptation instead) -- who advised them to link the newly invented Viscount Risley arrest-and-sentencing storyline to Clive's giving in to social pressure to "go straight."

[@psychicmediumlisamarie3235]

Julian Sands was initially set to portray “Maurice” but sadly dropped out for personal reasons. I think what could have been if he hadn’t

[@jackcarl2772]

2:00 I have read and heard, repeatedly, about the "unsatisfactory" aspect of Clive's change of direction described in the novel. In this day and age of transsexual, pansexual, bisexual, You-Name-It sexual...surely it makes even more sense now. The fact is, people do change, a lot, and all of the time. How many stories do we hear of relationships or marriages busting up because someone has "gone over" to the other side? Add to that, the social and familial expectations and norms of the time (1913) and I find it very believable.

[@Tatiana_Palii]

This change still doesn’t seem genuine with Clive though, because Forster clearly shows that Clive's sex life in marriage turned out to be miserable even by the standards of that time. But I don't think Clive would be happy with Maurice either, their relationship was going nowhere, sex or no sex. And I agree that Clive might have really believed he was "cured" for a while.

[@timetraveler5083]

My favorite movie 😭❤️ I love it. I was not even born when it came out. But everything about Maurice is beautiful ❤️

[@thefuckisgoingon]

I was so pleased to see the ending when I first saw it! I know that clives story wasnt perfect but this feels like one of the only lgbt movies that actually has a happy ending. in basically all other well-known films (brokeback mountain, call me by your name, portrait of a lady on fire etc.) either they die or break up for numerous reasons.