The main part of his few movies were filmed in the quarter of a century in which he worked closely together with the Indian producer Ismail Merchant and the German writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. His first films are all set in India and are very much influenced by the style of Satyajit Ray and Jean Renoir. After this period, he filmed three stories in...
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The main part of his few movies were filmed in the quarter of a century in which he worked closely together with the Indian producer Ismail Merchant and the German writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. His first films are all set in India and are very much influenced by the style of Satyajit Ray and Jean Renoir. After this period, he filmed three stories in New York and then dedicated his work to the great works of the English literature which made him internationally famous. Examples of this period are The Europeans (1979) and The Bostonians (1984) by Henry James, Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980) by Jane Austen, Quartet (1981) by Jean Rhys or A Room with a View (1985) and Maurice (1987) by E.M. Forster. Show less «
Ismail [Ismail Merchant] was very keen for us to do A Room with a View (1985). We had paid for the r...Show more »
Ismail [Ismail Merchant] was very keen for us to do A Room with a View (1985). We had paid for the rights and it was just sitting there. But Ruth [Ruth Prawer Jhabvala] and I were working on another screenplay, a contemporary story, and I said, "Must we? I don't want to do another period film right now." Thank God we did! Because of that film a lot of opportunities were created in studios. They couldn't understand how a film which cost $3.5 million to make could make $70 million at the box office. They thought we had some great secret. Show less «
[1984 interview] The first book she gave me to read was "The Europeans"; then I went through them al...Show more »
[1984 interview] The first book she gave me to read was "The Europeans"; then I went through them all. But it's very hard to get financing for a Henry James story. I spent many years trying with The Europeans (1979) and finally got the money from Britain. And the same with this one: a little American money, but, again, the English came up with most of it. Henry James just isn't box office here, apparently. He's more appreciated in England. Show less «
[on Ismail Merchant] He was absolutely my closest friend and my creative partner for all my producti...Show more »
[on Ismail Merchant] He was absolutely my closest friend and my creative partner for all my productive life, apart from my very first films, which were documentaries before I knew him. Ismail was there to get everything going, keep an eye on things and make sure that we had everything we needed. He made sure the film was released properly and publicised properly. He was a genius at publicity and knew exactly what he had to do. In every way, he was the most supportive of producers. He trusted so many people to do a good job when they seemed inexperienced and didn't have much in the way of credits. But he was convinced they would be good. It applied to actors and often to editors or art directors or whoever, and they all finally turned out great and had good careers. Show less «
I think the Merchant Ivory brand really means literate dialogue. I think it starts with that. When p...Show more »
I think the Merchant Ivory brand really means literate dialogue. I think it starts with that. When people say something, you know it has some sort of ripples to it. Show less «
[on his affinity to India] It wasn't as though I had a childhood preoccupation with India. It was co...Show more »
[on his affinity to India] It wasn't as though I had a childhood preoccupation with India. It was completely accidental and was based on my seeing The River (1951) and later on seeing a group of miniature Indian paintings. And then, most important, seeing the films of Ray, the Apu trilogy. That's what really got me started - a combination of things spread out over a period of six or so years. Show less «
