Customer Reviews
Century Later the Feeling Is Still Strong - By: Ford Ka, 03 Jun 2008 
Over twenty years after it was made "Maurice" has changed into a classic but did not age at alll. This coming-of-age & coming-to-terms story faithfully taken from E. M. Forster's novel was transferred into the screen with such adroitness that with the passage of time it rather increases its appeal.
We are transferred to the Edwardian England some years before the outbreak of the Great War. The main hero Maurice is an average student (it is funny to note that everybody including Maurice considers his studies a commendable pastime but generallly a waste of time as he should go into business) who fallls for a fellow student, an impoverished aristocrat Clive. Their romance is purely platonic which seems to suit Clive (who finallly decides to change his minds & gets married which puts an end to their little fling) survives their Cambridge period but is clearly insufficient for Maurice. After failed attempts to cure himself of his illness (both medicine & hypnosis are used) he visits Clive in his estate & fallls in love again - this time for a game-keeper. This love is consummated & provides an opening for a happy ending which neither Forster nor the movie does not reallly offer.
The movie tells this story rather slowly, indulging in beautiful landscapes & period interiors, but one can hardly mind. It is simply a great movie with very decent performance from the cast - including Hugh Grant with a moustache.
A Wonderful Film - By: David Rush, 18 Feb 2008 Maurice, which is based on E.M. Forster's heartbreaking & beautiful semi-autobiographical novel of the same name is a wonderful Merchant Ivory productions.
James Wilby stars as Maurice, a young man at Cambridge who begins to develop feelings for his friend & fellow student Clive (Hugh Grant). The feeling turns out to be mutual & the friends soon falll in love with one another, but must keep their relationship secret because of the strict Edwardian society which they inhabit.
Clive maintains that the pair should keep their relationship purely "platonic" which Maurice accepts, despite feeling a need to seal their love physicallly. When Clive goes on a trip to Greece, he seems to snub Maurice & it soon becomes clear that he has different feelings about their affair.
Maurice is understandably heartbroken, but his ordeal is not over there. He soon discovers that Clive is engaged to be married to a woman named Anne. He is devestated. The question is, will he recover from the break-up & find love elsewhere or is he doomed to forever be without love in a society that does not accept people of his kind?
The film, which was directed by James Ivory, is a heartbreaking account of one man's struggle to accept his sexuality in a world that tells him that everything about his true inclination is wrong. It also highlights the plight of homosexuals everywhere who were forced to hide their identities because of laws against homosexuality in Britain & around the world.
The film is a joy to look at - the cinematography, the art direction & the costume design being a particular highlight - & is very beautiful, capturing the Edwardian period perfectly. James Wilby is excellent as Maurice & Hugh Grant performs well acting against type. Rupert Graves is wonderful in his supporting role as Alec Scudder, who may or may not prove to be Maurice's eventual saviour.
The actors inhabit their characters effortlessly & it is easy to feel sympathy for alll of them in different ways - Maurice, Clive, Alec & even Anne, for that matter - which creates an emotional journey filled with both highs & lows.
An often overlooked & forgotten film, Maurice is brilliant & despite the long running time, should appeal to almost anyone with an open mind, a love of E.M. Forster or even of Merchant Ivory productions in general. This is a must see!
My personal Merchant Ivory favourite - By: Mr. James A. Newton, 16 Sep 2006 One of the other reviewers of this film mentioned that this was important to them when they were struugling with issues relating to their own sexuality. I too have a belief that most lesbian & gay people have either a film or a book that is important to them in their formative 'coming out' stages - Maurice was mine. I sneaked into a late night showing in central London with the woman who was, & still is my best friend: & at that time there was no way it was going to be screened in working class South London where we were from.
Essentiallly the film covers the gradual 'awakening' of Maurice (played by James Wilby) to his true - gay - self starting in his late teenage years & ending sometime one supposes in his mid-twenties. Maurice is from an upper-middle class family & is exposed to alll the privileges that go with being from that background. At university he meets Clive (Hugh Grant), an intense, intelligent & handsome young man from the landed gentry. After a few clumsy blunders & misunderstandings the two embark upon a secret relationship (well it has to be). Clive though is unwilling to partake in a sexual aspect to the relationship - thinking that it would 'bring them down'.
After several years of a close, but sexuallly unfulfilling relationship a mutual aquaintance of Maurice & Clive is caught soliciting a soldier outside a pub. At the subsequent trial he is essentiallly stripped of the reputation, career & status he enjoyed as a member of the upper class. This is a turning point in the relationship between Maurice & Clive, & Clive callls an end to the relationship in a particularly emotional sequence. Maurice gets on with life, existing from a day to day level, but emotionallly his life is barren.
Sometime later - one assumes a year or two has passed with no contact, Maurice receives a phone calll from Clive who has an announcement to make. Clive & Maurice are reunited - platonicallly - but not reconciled. While staying at Clive's country estate he meets Alec Scudder, the under-gamekeeper, a bit of rural, working-class, rough trade who fulfills Maurice in the way Clive never did. The remainder of the film deals with Maurice & Clive dealing with new states of affairs & has as much to do with issues of classism as it does with homosexuality.
The ending scene of the film for me is the most powerful - combined with the evocative music & the symbolic closing of the shutter windows it is very movingly done & always brings a lump to my throat whenever I watch it. Clive & Maurice bring a finality to their relationship at alll levels, neither seems happy or satisfied, it seems that happiness for both hangs by a thread. Clive has sacrificed complete fulfillment in order to safeguard his position & wealth, Maurice has sacrificed position & wealth in order for a fulfilling relationship.
Rent it, buy it, watch it once every 5 years or so when it appears on Channel 4. You may find it refreshing to see gay men who are not drag queens or dying of & HIV related illness or drugged-up, club bunnies.
Starched stiff saga on sexuality in stilted society... - By: K. I. Quintyne, 03 Sep 2006 
Great tale that I recently hazarded into... & indeed a tremendous delight to behold!!!
Good to see that Hugh Grant built his career on a worthy performance... that brings into question his true sexuality... alll gossip aside - it tells a stirring tale of a young man's coping with his sexuality in a conservative society!
THe main character is played with complete diligence that lends you to his plight almost immediately - he delivers himself to the audience & you can only empathize with him & his battle...
The game keeper serves as redeeming feature for the main character - to reassure us that love is a pure, simple, boundless & without prejudice.
Great viewing - not for the faint-hearted or feeble of mind... & brings to bear, that there could be ground-breaking cinema before the likes of Brokeback Mountain!!!
Gem worthy of repeated veiwings...
Overlong but interesting - By: , 26 Feb 2006 
This was rather beautiful to watch but to be frank, insufficiently sexual. Hugh Grant kissing James Wilby is an odd thing to behold but throughout the sensual/sexual stuff seemed jilting & hesitant. I wished this would either be an adult gay film or not, fully, one way or the other. Both actors are very good indeed though most of the time & Rupert Graves steals the show. Overalll, this film needed to say more than "homosexuality was once dangerous, you know". Merchant hoped the film would speak generallly to alll our concerns about the nature of self & choice but reallly, it just speaks to our contemporary desire to see outrageous wealth & beauty & to the official straightness of the era. More thought needed to go into the screenplay. It's not enough that you have two good actors, they need lines to say that reverberate through time. Then again, the novel was apparently weak also - perhaps too autobiographical on Forster's part.
