Merchant Ivory
From 1961 through 2007, a scrappy British producer/director duo made 43 films in India, Great Britain and the U.S., films which garnered thirty Oscar nominations, winning six. Cowriter (with Jon Hart)/director Stephen Soucy, makes his feature length directorial debut exploring the personal and professional lives of “Merchant Ivory.”
Laura's Review: B-
Using copious film clips, interviews past and present with many of their films’ stars and the 95 year-old James Ivory himself (who recently won an Oscar for his “Call Me By Your Name” screenplay), Soucy defines Merchant Ivory Productions as having four essential artists – late producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, late screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (who wrote 23 of their films) and, something of a ‘Fifth Beatle,’ late composer Richard Robbins (who scored 21 of their films) – and he organizes his documentary loosely around them.
James Ivory, who is still working, describes the Merchant Ivory inspiration as something as simple as picking up a novel that ‘Ruth left lying around,’ then doubles back analyzing how much that novel mirrored his own life. He describes meeting the charismatic Ismail Merchant at the Indian consulate in New York City, after which the two began a romantic relationship that lasted throughout their lives, despite Merchant’s many affairs (including with Richard Robbins, who also had a relationship with Helena Bonham Carter). Ivory’s first anecdote about his lifelong partner is a hoot, telling of how Merchant sent a press release announcing his arrival in Hollywood to promote his Oscar nominated short film expecting to be greeted by the media at the train station.
Felicity Kendal, who many might know from PBS runs of British TV’s ‘Good Neighbors,’ describes the excitement that surrounded their second film, 1965’s “Shakespeare Wallah.” Vanessa Redgrave, who appears a bit surly on camera, notes that ‘the more you love somebody the more you’re ready to disagree with them,’ a comment reflecting on Merchant and Ivory themselves (Ismail, we are told, thought Jim was going to bankrupt the business commercially while Jim thought Ismail was going to bankrupt it artistically). Emma Thompson, whose starring role in “Howards End” it is astonishing to be reminded was only her third film role, notes how physically demanding it was to work on Merchant Ivory productions because of their tiny budgets, Merchant often whipping them up as he went along (Ivory himself calls Merchant a con man, many describing him as ‘infuriating but lovable’), and how refreshingly direct Ivory’s direction was (‘I didn’t like it. It was boring,’ he reportedly said after shooting her climbing into a carriage).
They began to become commercially viable with 1983’s “Heat and Dust,” adapted from a Jhabvala novel, and 1984’s Henry James’ adaptation “The Bostonian,” but it was a trio of E.M. Forster adaptations that really put them on the map, beginning with the smash commercial hit that was 1985’s “A Room with a View,” their first Oscar winner. “Maurice” was ahead of its time in depicting LBGTQ issues during Margaret Thatcher’s anti-gay Article 28 era and “Howard’s End” was a triumph, winning another 3 Oscars (Helena Bonham Carter reveals that her grandmother, Violet, was a personal friend of Forster’s and just may have been an inspiration for Margaret Schlegel). But although it won none of the 8 Oscars it was nominated for, having had the bad luck to be released the same year as “Schindler’s List,” “The Remains of the Day” is perhaps their pinnacle (it is this critic’s favorite of their films). None of their ensuing films, like “Jefferson in Paris” or “Surviving Picasso,” would be nominated again, their final film the 2009 release “The City of Your Destination.”
Soucy presents a lovely overview of ‘the very literary’ Ruth, described as a voracious reader by a neighbor and a bit of an outsider. We are told Merchant fell hard for Richard Robbins as he continued his relationship with Ivory, but Jim notes he also had dalliances, most notably with Bruce Chatwin, the subject of a recent Werner Herzog documentary. “Merchant Ivory” is a solid, if somewhat unbalanced, overview of one of the most important art house filmmaking teams in cinema history, perhaps most surprising in how financially scrappy the duo had to be. If nothing else, it’s given me a powerful urge to rewatch a number of their films.
Robin's Review: B-
Way back in 1961, the filmmaking team of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant got their collaborative start with “The Householder.” Since that time, the pair, with longtime scripter, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and music smith, Richard Robbins, have created 43 feature works. Director Stephen Soucy tells the story of this remarkable quartet in “Merchant Ivory.”
Soucy creates a straightforward bio-pic that begins with the introduction of the four principles in the story – Merchant, Ivory, Jhabvala and Robbins. We learn about their early works, before collaboration, and the first meeting of Ivory and Merchant. I found out that the two men had, early on, a gay relationship that lasted until Merchant’s death in 2005.
Their early collaboration set the tone for all of their works, with Merchant the consummate producer who made films on a shoestring budget. This is where their story continues in its parts, each with diminishing returns.
First up is Indian-born Ismail Merchant and this is where the bulk of the documentary time is spent on his early and long professional life. Then they move on to James Ivory and his career as a film director and movie maker. This, I think, is my favorite sequence with frequent commentary by Ivory about the movies they made.
The last two parts only give us cursory looks at the writing and music talent of Jhabvala and Robbins. I know that the producer and director are at the top of the heap in the industry but the writing and music, especially in this decades-long collaboration, are on top, too.
All in all, I found “Merchant Ivory” an interesting look at a particular team of creative artists known for high-quality, low-budget filmmaking. Its concentration on Merchant’s career diminishes the accomplishments of the rest. So much time is spent on the producer that the rest got short shrift. It is entertaining to watch the bits and pieces of their many films, sparking the desire to see some of them again.
Cohen Media Group releases "Merchant Ivory" in select theaters on 8/30/24, expanding on 9/6/24.
