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Merchant Ivory

Here's the first of a few films I'm planning to catch at the British Film Festival so I'll attempt to keep the reviews relatively brief. This a documentary directed by Stephen Soucy about the legendary filmmaking team, Merchant Ivory Productions. The formidable ensemble consisted of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and composer Richard Robbins. After meeting in 1961, Ivory and Merchant started a fruitful partnership, both professionally and romantically.

The film shows us their somewhat ramshackle early films, made in India, moving on to marginally more assured productions in the US, and finally to the English period dramas they became known for in the 80s and onwards. Together, they made over 40 films, some absolute gems among them. A Room with a View, Howard's End, and The Remains of the Day are probably their best, though you could throw in Heat and Dust, Maurice, and The Golden Bowl as very strong examples of their craft.

There are some great interviews - Hugh Grant, Helena Bonham-Carter, Emma Thompson, costume designer Jenny Beavan, a somewhat spiky Vanessa Redgrave, (no Anthony Hopkins, probably for reasons alluded to in the film), but the biggest coup was making the doco before James Ivory has departed us. He was 95 (!) when this was made and he's a sharp, witty, relaxed interview subject. The other members of his film family are all gone; Ismail Merchant died in 2005, greatly affecting Ivory; Richard Robbins in 2012; and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala in 2013.

The reminders of the brilliant films and the chats with all the luminaries are just one side of the film. It also goes into the complicated relationships between the main players, as well as their effects on people coming into their orbits. The contrast of Ivory's calm, measured personality and Merchant's more volatile one must have created an odd set for the actors and crew, especially as many were not getting paid on time. At one stage, it's put to Ivory that others have called Merchant a 'con-man', to which he replies that, "He was a con-man, you have to be a con-man to be a successful film producer anyway." As Merchant apparently once said to Beavan, "I've got you your Oscar, why do I now need to pay you?"

Speaking of Oscars, I'm guessing the idea for the film came about after Ivory got the award for writing Call Me by Your Name in 2017, becoming the oldest person to win one. Whatever its provenance, fans of the Merchant Ivory output can be chuffed with this solid doco.

Merchant Ivory is showing as part of the Russell Hobbs British Film Festival around Australia (screening in Perth at the Luna and Palace cinemas).

See also:

Any of the above, but I'd plump for The Remains of the Day (1993) and A Room with a View (1985).

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