Maurice

Throughout the Eighties and early Nineties there were a series of Merchant Ivory films that were quite popular here in America that included the likes of A Room With a View, Howard's End, and The Remains of the Day. My favorite of these films was Maurice, based on the novel by E.M Forster. The films had a reputation for being extremely posh and classy productions, but yet hiding under the surface of the film is one of genuine passion and romance that took me delightfully by surprise the first time I saw it.

Maurice Hall (played by James Wilby) comes from an upper-class upbringing and is attending Cambridge in early 20th century England. There he makes two new friends, Risley (played by Mark Tandy) and Clive Durham (played by Hugh Grant). Friendship turns to genuine affection between Maurice and Clive, however Clive insists it must remain platonic between the two of them and to go further would "diminish them both." Years pass as the two friends keep their feelings secret. However, when Risley is arrested by the police for soliciting sex from a male soldier and sentenced to six months hard labor, Clive panics and puts some distance between him and Maurice, breaking off their romance and stating they should be just friends. Clive, under pressure from his widowed mother, marries a naive rich girl named Anne (played by Phoebe Nicholls) and settles into a life of rural domesticity.

Devastated, Maurice turns to his family physician (played by Denholm Elliot) for assistance, telling him of his feelings "of the Oscar Wilde sort." His physician brushes him off, calling what he was saying rubbish. He then seeks the assistance of Dr. Lasker-Jones (played by Ben Kinglsey) to cure his homosexuality with hypnotism. When this doesn't seem to take, Dr. Lasker-Jones suggests Maurice relocate to another country, such as France or Italy where homosexuality is no longer criminalized. During this time, Maurice is making frequent trips to Clive's country estate in Pendersleigh. It's there that he catches the attention of under-gamekeeper Alec Scudder (played by Rupert Graves), with whom a far deeper and more passionate romance begins to bloom.

Filled with gorgeous cinematography and fantastic direction to match from James Ivory, the film is beautiful from the beginning scenes in Cambridge all the way to the end. It has a trifecta of three strong performances to match from James Wilby, Hugh Grant, and Rupert Graves. Initially, I checked out this movie because the inclusion of Hugh Grant in the cast intrigued me since about seven years after making this movie he rose to fame for his work on Four Weddings and a Funeral and I was curious about his early work. He does well here as Clive and gives a strong performance as a man torn between what he wants and what he feels obligated to do. As the film goes on, you do get the sense that Clive comes to regret giving into societal pressure and his own fears and let Maurice go. James Wilby is fantastic in the lead role of Maurice Hall, who wonderfully portrays the outward charm of Maurice, but inside his thoughts are far away and conflicted. And while I may have initially viewed the film for Hugh Grant, I left it absolutely smitten with Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder. Graves gives Scudder an undeniable charm and confidence that makes it easy to see why Maurice would be taken with him. There is an undeniable class divide between the two though, which is also portrayed well by both James Wilby and Rupert Graves.

The film is based on the novel by E.M Forster, which he wrote initially between 1913-1914, with further revisions later on in life. Himself a gay man who indeed attended Cambridge, he no doubt drew from his own life experiences as his wrote the novel. He wasn't bold enough to publish it in his lifetime though because he knew at that time the content would be quite controversial, especially since he was determined that the novel (and subsequently the film) have a happy ending. Subsequently the novel was published after his death in 1971. Upon Forster's death, the rights to his books wound up with the self-governing board of fellows with King's College at Cambridge. When Ismail Merchant and James Ivory approached them for the rights to make Maurice, they initially declined the offer, not because they objected to the content but rather they felt it was an inferior work. This bit of trivia always makes me laugh because that is such an academic response to such a request.

The film does a good job adapting the original novel though with a script by James Ivory and Kit Hesketh-Harvey. In fact, they strengthen the narrative in some places with the addition of Risley being arrested for the crime of homosexuality to make Clive's actions later more believable to the audience. Otherwise, the film is a rather faithful adaptation from the novel. Many have commented that they felt the romance between Maurice and Alec wouldn't last because of their class differences but I respectively disagree. They seemed to get on quite well when we see the two of them alone. Besides it is made clear several times in the narrative the Maurice had grown tired of the upper class and was perfectly content to chuck it all and live a regular life "without status."

Overall, Maurice is a sumptuous and romantic film with a unique and eye opening look and what it was like to be gay in Edwardian era England. There is a lot to love here as we follow Maurice on his long journey to finding true happiness and love. Filled with plenty of romance and passion, this film remains one of my favorites. At the moment though, it is a bit hard to find as the rights to it have changed hands and the current DVD is out of print, so apologies for that. It is worth seeking out though once it is re-released, as the current rights holders are in the process of re-mastering it for a long overdue Blu-ray release.