Ismail Merchant Movies

James Ivory directed this drama adapted from Kaylie Jones's 1990 autobiographical novel in which the character Bill Willis is based on her father, James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and A Thin Red Line. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay about expatriate Americans in Paris during the 1960s/1970s offers a portrait of a normal family (as opposed to the dysfunctional families of The Ice Storm and many other 1990s films), seen from the point of view of daughter Channe. Her father is Bill Willis (Kris Kristofferson), a successful novelist and WWII veteran who's married to enthusiastic poker-player Marcella (Barbara Hershey). Divided like the sections of a novel, the story's first chapter is titled, "Billy," in which French orphan Benoit (Samuel Gruen) is brought to the Willis household for adoption, while his unmarried biological mother (Virginie Ledoyen) writes about him in her diary. Six-year-old Benoit has been shipped through so many orphanages and foster homes that he doesn't unpack his suitcase. Benoit's presence prompts the young Channe (Luisa Conlon) to turn to her protective Portuguese nanny Candida (Dominique Blanc). After Benoit becomes acclimated to his new family, he asks that his name be changed to Billy. In the second segment "Francis" a strong friendship develops between Channe (Leelee Sobieski) and fatherless Francis Fortescue (Anthony Roth Costanzo). Obsessed with opera, Francis lives with his expatriate British mother (Jane Birkin). The family's French idyll is disrupted when Bill Willis plans a return to the United States because he wants American doctors to treat his bad heart. The closing act "Daddy" takes place in North Carolina during the 1970s as Bill's health worsens, Billy (Jesse Bradford) grows up, and an alienated Channe seeks acceptance through sex. A bedridden Bill dictates his fiction to Channe, who transcribes tapes and types his manuscript pages. During intimate conversations about boys and sex, Willis helps his daughter find her footing on the path of life. This movie arrived only 14 weeks prior to the release of Terrence Malick's 1998 adaptation of the elder Jones' The Thin Red Line. Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Bombay Talkie was, together with Shakespeare Wallah, the property that brought worldwide recognition to the Merchant-Ivory filmmaking team. Jennifer Kendal plays a British writer, seeking out new adventures in India. The writer comes across actor Shashi Kapoor and his director Zia Mohyeddin and has romantic relations with both, thereby opening up a culture-clash can of worms. The script is by Merchant-Ivory perennial Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by H.E. Bates, this period drama stars Embeth Davidtz as Bella Ford, a woman living in rural England during the Victorian era. Bella fell victim to Arch Wilson (Greg Wise), a unprincipled man who claimed to be from the nearby village. He seduced her only to vanish without a trace when she became pregnant. When she is outcast after her child is stillborn, a kindly villager named Ben Wainwright (Tom Bell) allows her to stay with his family in exchange for helping with the chores. However, the presence of a young and beautiful woman in the house creates a certain amount of tension between Ben, his wife (Gemma Jones), and sons Jedd (James Purefoy), a soldier; Matty (Kent Anderson), a shoemaker; and Con (Ben Chaplin), a homebody and social misfit. Con takes a shine to Bella and eventually proposes marriage; Bella accepts, but matters become complicated when she discovers that the dastardly Arch has returned to the village. Ismail Merchant served as executive producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two women, related but separated by one generation and 60 years, have parallel experiences in the evocative mystical environment of India in this period drama from producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Although a little slow-paced for some, and slightly confusing because the stories of the two women are intercut, the scenery and script evoke a time and place that mesmerize. Based on the 1975 novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, a long-time collaborator in Merchant-Ivory Productions, the story begins with Ann (Julie Christie) who discovers some letters written by her grandfather's first wife Olivia (Greta Scacchi) that open up a whole new world as Ann travels to India to continue researching her grandmother's past. The letters reveal that when she was young, the free-spirited grandmother fell in love with an Indian nobleman (Shashi Kapoor) and left her husband -- an administrator in the British colonial government -- for her lover. After Ann arrives in India, her life and the modern rush of cars and people are played off against flashbacks to Olivia's life in a colonial setting. When the environment of each woman is compared and the nature of their momentous decisions placed side-by-side, their rites of passage and the society that dominated their choices stand out in high relief. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala won "Best Adapted Screenplay" at the 1983 British Academy Awards for her script of Heat And Dust. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

One of the best Ismail Merchant/James Ivory films, this adaptation of E. M. Forster's classic 1910 novel shows in careful detail the injuriously rigid British class consciousness of the early 20th century. The film's catalyst is "poor relation" Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson), who inherits part of the estate of Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave), an upper-class woman whom she had befriended. The film's principal characters are divided by caste: aristocratic industrial Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins); middle-echelon Margaret and her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter); and working-class clerk Leonard Bast (Sam West) and his wife (Nicola Duffett). The personal and social conflicts among these characters ultimately result in tragedy for Bast and disgrace for Wilcox, but the film's wider theme remains the need, in the words of the novel's famous epigram, to "only connect" with other people, despite boundaries of gender, class, or petty grievance. Filmed on a proudly modest budget, Howards End offers sets, spectacles, and costumes as lavish as in any historical epic. Nominated for 9 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, the film took home awards for Thompson as Best Actress, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's adapted screenplay, and Luciana Arrighi's art direction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anita Desai and Shahrukh Husain adapted Desai's novel for this comedy-drama about an Indian university teacher who encounters numerous hassles in his attempts to document the final writings of an ailing, alcoholic poet whom he idolizes. Score by Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Best known for their historical epics that examine class and social issues in British life through a thick lens of tasteful production design and good manners, director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant set their sights on an American protagonist for a change with Jefferson in Paris. As the title suggests, Jefferson in Paris deals with the five years that Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) spent as U.S. ambassador to France prior to the French Revolution; while Jefferson is sympathetic to the revolutionary forces in France, he's become well enough acquainted with the ruling aristocracy that he finds himself torn between the two sides of the issue. Jefferson, a recent widower, also becomes friends with Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), who is married to a foppish British artist; while it's obvious the two are in love, neither is in a position to do anything about their infatuation. And while Jefferson's daughter Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow) loves her father, she's very upset with him when he sends her to a convent school. In this midst of this personal turmoil, Jefferson's younger daughter Polly (Estelle Eonnet) arrives in Paris, with her slave Sally Hemmings (Thandie Newton) in tow. Attractive and bright (if uneducated), Sally catches Jefferson's eye, and a friendship develops that grows into something deeper; in time, Sally becomes pregnant, and her family claims that Jefferson is the father. At the time Jefferson In Paris was released, the question of Sally Hemmings' relationship with Thomas Jefferson was a matter of lively historical debate; since then, genetic evidence has shown that, while Jefferson's paternity can't be proved beyond a doubt, it is likely that he did father children with Hemmings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Lumière brothers' first films, filmmakers Sarah Moon and Philippe Poulet challenged 39 renowned international directors to each complete a 52-second film using the original Cinematographe camera under the conditions endured by the brothers. The result of the project was this film, Lumière et Compagnie. The film stock used was homemade from a slightly altered version of the Lumières' recipe. No synchronized sound was allowed and only natural lighting was permitted. The participating directors included John Boorman, Costa-Gavras, Peter Greenaway, Lasse Hallström, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Liv Ullmann, and Wim Wenders. Among the actors who performed in the films were Liam Neeson, Lena Olin, Aidan Quinn, and Alan Rickman. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

After making a living by providing English subtitle translation to numerous French films, American filmmaker Andrew Litvack makes his debut as a writer/director with the Merchant Ivory production Merci Docteur Rey. Set in Paris, this farcical comedy involves the troubles of young gay man Thomas (Stanislas Merhar). First his opera diva mother, Elisabeth (Dianne Wiest), comes for a visit and she doesn't know he's gay. When he accepts a blind date with someone from an online chat room, he ends up witnessing a murder and possibly discovering the identity of his real father. Eventually he ends up telling his story to a therapist, who is instead replaced by unstable voice-over actress Penelope (Jane Birkin). Also includes cameo appearances by Vanessa Redgrave, Simon Callow, Bulle Ogier, and Jerry Hall. Merci Docteur Rey was shown at the 2002 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This drama concerns a young teen's transformation as she works at a half-way house for troubled kids. Franny (Mary Stuart Masterson) leaves behind a pampered, rich kid's life of yachting parties and affluent pastimes to take up a summer job working under Mrs. Chopper (Anne Meara) at a temporary shelter for homeless teens. Even though the experienced Mrs. Chopper warns Franny about not getting too involved with her charges, Franny decides that if she can organize a talent show, the youngsters will see that they are really worth something. Needless to say, Mrs. Chopper was partly right, and partly wrong. Jennifer Lopez of 1997's Selena and 1998's Out of Sight makes a precocious film debut here as one of the young teens. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1949 Somerset Maugham "omnibus" film of the same name, 1981's Quartet is based on the roman a clef by Jean Rhys. Though the names are changed, it is clearly the story of Rhys' romance with Ford Maddox Ford in 1920s Paris. The titular quartet consists of novelist Isabelle Adjani, her Polish husband Anthony Higgins, wealthy philanderer Alan Bates and Bates' artist wife Maggie Smith. Though she's been indulgent of Higgins's past indiscretions, Smith isn't keen on her husband carrying on an affair with Adjani under their own roof. Meanwhile, Higgins sits in prison, jailed for his various petty thefts. Once Higgins is released, he learns about the Bates-Adjani-Smith contretemps. When the dust settles, it is Adjani who suffers the most. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This hippie parable, co-written and directed by James Ivory and produced by his long-time partner Ismail Merchant, tries to make a heavy-handed parallel between civilization and corruption. A tribe of nameless natives (played by Sam Waterston, Susan Blakely, Salome Jens and Martin Kove, among others) finds a croquet ball and, rolling it along the ground mystified by what it might be, stumbles upon an estate. They enter and occupy the mansion and don the clothes and trappings of civilized luxury. A dividing line begins to develop between strong and weak tribe members, with the weak becoming subordinate to the others. A lavish party is thrown that resembles nothing so much as a summer weekend gathering of sophisticates. After a game of croquet, however, the natives begin to tire of their masquerade and devolve back into their original, more primitive state, and disappear into the forest. Cinematographer Walter Lassally makes the film's point more blunt and obvious by filming the prologue in black and white and then switching to color once the tribe discovers the estate. One of Ivory's co-writers was Michael O'Donoghue, infamous bad boy of the original Saturday Night Live writing staff. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide