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Maurice
1987
At Cambridge, Clive Durham [Grant] is immediately attracted to a fellow student, Maurice Hall [James Wilby]. The love between them is platonic but intense and, in a society that both persecutes and prosecutes homosexuals, guilt and fear lead to Clive's breakdown and a bitter rift between the two friends. Both men try to .. Read more
| Starring | James Wilby, Patrick Godfrey, Ben Kingsley, Helena Bonham-Carter |
|---|---|
| Director | James Ivory |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
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Maurice
At Cambridge, Clive Durham [Grant] is immediately attracted to a fellow student, Maurice Hall [James Wilby]. The love between them is platonic but intense and, in a society that both persecutes and prosecutes homosexuals, guilt and fear lead to Clive's breakdown and a bitter rift between the two friends. Both men try to suppress their homoerotic instincts � Clive through marriage, Maurice through medicine and psychiatry. But Maurice alone finds the honesty and strength to face up to his true nature when a man from a completely different social world enters his life, the darkly handsome young gamekeeper, Alec Scudder [Rupert Graves]...
| Starring | James Wilby, Patrick Godfrey, Ben Kingsley, Helena Bonham-Carter, Rupert Graves, Hugh Grant, Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw, Barry Foster, Judy Parfitt, Phoebe Nicholls |
|---|---|
| Director | James Ivory |
| Studio | CHANNEL 4 |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 04 Oct 1999 Production year: 1987 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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EM Forster's autobiographical novel about homosexuals at Cambridge was written in 1914, but sheepishly withheld from publication until after Forster's death in 1970. From its opening scenes, in which Simon Callow camply tells the young Maurice what great things he can expect from his body, this adaptation by James Ivory skips rather gingerly around the subject matter. The older Maurice, now played by James Wilby, goes up to Cambridge where Hugh Grant awaits; eventually, though, he ends up with a bit of rough trade, played by Rupert Graves. As with all Merchant Ivory films, it's impeccably mounted, prim and a tad dull.
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Hothouse study of E. M. Forster's posthumously published and semi-autobiographical novel. An acquired taste, but many scenes have general appeal.
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Most helpful member's review
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23 out of 24 people found this review helpful
Excellent movie
The movie follows the lives of two young men, Maurice and Clive, both of whom are gay and living in early 1900's England. The movie starts when they are in college and then follows their lives over the next few years.
Initially both Clive and Maurice appear to accept their sexuality and relationship, but as time goes on they both begin to struggle with living in an intolerant 1900's society. They find themselves being forced into having to deal with their sexuality and the social consequences of being gay. Clive gets married to a woman he obviously doesn't really love, while Maurice continues to struggle with his feelings of guilt but still 'refuses' to give in and adopt a truly heterosexual lifestyle. Throughout the film they remain in contact, and at one point Maurice even ends up living in the house with Clive and his wife. The family all seem to like Maurice, and Clive's wife can tell Maurice is in love, but thinks it's with a mysterious girl in London, not her husband. An unexpected twist (well, I did't see it coming, maybe others will) comes later in the film which, to me, is what made the message behind this film so good.
If nothing else, the film gave me an appreciation of just how hard it must have been to be gay in Britain less than 100 years ago. (This really hit home to me when I saw Maurice being sent to jail after being tricked into making a pass at an uncover policeman).
While the first half hour or so is a bit slow, once it got going I was glued to the screen. The movie is shot in an interesting way... despite running for over 2 hours it rarely dwells on any scene or idea for more than a few minutes, making the story seem a bit 'jumpy'. But once you get into it, this actually means the story moves quite quickly and covers a lot of ground in a short period of time.
While the film is about a gay couple, I think it would be suitable to just about anyone. It's ultimately a love story filled with both pain and happiness, the only difference from most films is that it's about love shared between men.
I rented this on recommendation from a friend and liked it so much I purchased the DVD to add to my collection. It's a brilliant film. -
Most recent members' review
View all -
23 out of 24 people found this review helpful
Excellent movie
The movie follows the lives of two young men, Maurice and Clive, both of whom are gay and living in early 1900's England. The movie starts when they are in college and then follows their lives over the next few years.
Initially both Clive and Maurice appear to accept their sexuality and relationship, but as time goes on they both begin to struggle with living in an intolerant 1900's society. They find themselves being forced into having to deal with their sexuality and the social consequences of being gay. Clive gets married to a woman he obviously doesn't really love, while Maurice continues to struggle with his feelings of guilt but still 'refuses' to give in and adopt a truly heterosexual lifestyle. Throughout the film they remain in contact, and at one point Maurice even ends up living in the house with Clive and his wife. The family all seem to like Maurice, and Clive's wife can tell Maurice is in love, but thinks it's with a mysterious girl in London, not her husband. An unexpected twist (well, I did't see it coming, maybe others will) comes later in the film which, to me, is what made the message behind this film so good.
If nothing else, the film gave me an appreciation of just how hard it must have been to be gay in Britain less than 100 years ago. (This really hit home to me when I saw Maurice being sent to jail after being tricked into making a pass at an uncover policeman).
While the first half hour or so is a bit slow, once it got going I was glued to the screen. The movie is shot in an interesting way... despite running for over 2 hours it rarely dwells on any scene or idea for more than a few minutes, making the story seem a bit 'jumpy'. But once you get into it, this actually means the story moves quite quickly and covers a lot of ground in a short period of time.
While the film is about a gay couple, I think it would be suitable to just about anyone. It's ultimately a love story filled with both pain and happiness, the only difference from most films is that it's about love shared between men.
I rented this on recommendation from a friend and liked it so much I purchased the DVD to add to my collection. It's a brilliant film. -
News and features
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Final Merchant Ivory picture to be released
- 16 Dec 2005
Ismail Merchant and James Ivory's final film The White Countess is to be released. The partnership that brought 45 films to the screen came to an end in May when Merchant died. The Merchant Ivory brand came to stand for high quality costume drama with their great catalogue including adaptations of EM Forster's A Room With A View (starring Dame Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter and Denholm Elliott), Howard's End (with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson) and Maurice. The White Countess, set in... Read more
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