Volume 43, Number 17 · October 31, 1996
Faking Picasso
By John Richardson
Surviving Picasso
a film directed by James Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant
In abandoning India and Anglo-Indian subjects, Ismail Merchant and James Ivory lost the dry and delicate touch that made Shakespeare Wallah and Heat and Dust so memorable. However, they have gained a vast following with glossy films of E.M. Forster's low-key novels, in which they vulgarize the issues and overdecorate the sets. Their Room with a View, Maurice, and Howards End offer souped-up versions of Edwardian life: flower-showy gardens, fancy horses from the royal stables, and more mahogany paneling than the Connaught Hotel—'Ralph Lauren's England,' someone said. It all evokes Galsworthy rather than Forster.
Review, 2315 words
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