Merchant Ivory Movies
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- DirectorJames IvoryStarsShashi KapoorLeela NaiduDurga KhoteA young Indian newlywed finds his independent wife troublesome and seeks help and advice from his overbearing mother, a supposedly worldly wise friend, an American seeker of enlightenment and a swami.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsShashi KapoorFelicity KendalGeoffrey KendalThe story of a family troupe of English actors in India. They travel around the towns and villages giving performances of Shakespearean plays. Through their travels we see the changing face of India as the old is replaced by the new, Maharajas become hotel owners, sports become more important than culture and the theater is replaced by Bolliwood movies.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsRita TushinghamMichael YorkUtpal DuttTom Pickle, Britain's top pop artiste, travels to Bombay, India, in the 1960s to learn to play the sitar (musical instrument) from renowned maestro Ustad Zafar Khan. Tom is taken to Zafar's home, where he gets to meet his wife and several daughters, and the maestro himself.
- DirectorChadi Abdel SalamStarsAhmed MareiAhmad HegaziNadia LutfiAn Upper-Egyptian clan robs a cache of mummies and sells the artifacts on the illicit antiquities black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members goes to the police, helping the Antiquities Service find the cache.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsShashi KapoorJennifer KendalZia MohyeddinLucia Lane, an English writer by way of the US, arrives in Bombay to watch the filming of one of her novels. She's nearing middle age, she's had several husbands, she's lonely and self absorbed. Hari, a screenwriter, offers to show her around. She's interested only in the film's leading man, Vikram, younger than she, married, and building a career as a matinee idol. Lucia takes every opportunity to be near "V," making scenes in front of his wife, demanding his attentions. Hari is long suffering, carrying Lucia's messages to V, helping her out when the affair gets out of hand. Meanwhile, V's career suffers, with unpleasant repercussions. Who will bring things to a halt?
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsSusan BlakelyMargaret BrewsterThayer DavidAn allegory about humankind progresses from a savage state to a civilized form, that is only a cover for its innate barbarism.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames CocoRaquel WelchPerry KingWith the arrival of talking pictures, a silent film comedian (a Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle-type) throws a lavish party to try and save his failing career. His plan is to release one last, great silent masterpiece.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames MasonMadhur JaffreyKeith VarnierOn the anniversary of her father's death, an Indian princess (Madhur Jaffrey) celebrates his memory in her London apartment by having tea and showing a selection of home movies to her guest, her father's old tutor Cyril Sahib (James Mason).
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsTeresa WrightLou JacobiDon De Natale"Roseland" is made up of three stories, sometimes connecting, all set in the famed New York dance palace, and all having the same theme: finding the right dance partner.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsPeggy AshcroftLarry PineSaeed JaffreyA group of thieves descend upon an Indian palace to steal a collection of valuable paintings.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsLaurence LuckinbillMary Beth HurtLaurinda BarrettLouise worries about him as his difficulties with mid-life pull him further away from happiness and comfort with his family.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsLee RemickRobin EllisWesley AddyIt's the fall of 1850, a few miles outside Boston. The household of the dour Mr. Wentworth receives two unannounced visitors from Europe, Eugenia and Felix, the daughter and son of his half sister. Gertrude, one of Wentworth's two daughters, is instantly infatuated with her cousins, thinking them sophisticated and worldly. She turns her back on the local Unitarian minister, Mr. Brand, who has been calling on her, to delight in the pleasure and amusement Felix offers. Another wealthy neighbor, Mr. Acton, is attracted to Eugenia, who is going through a divorce with a European aristocrat. Are the Americans being used by the penniless Europeans? Or is there real affection?
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsDavid ReddenMichael WagerRobert PowellTwo teachers vie for the right to stage a play written by Jane Austen when she was twelve years old.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsIsabelle AdjaniMaggie SmithAlan BatesFinding herself penniless after her art-dealer husband Stephan is convicted of theft, Marya Zelli accepts the hospitality of a strange couple, H.J. and Lois Heidler, who let her live in their home.
- DirectorIsmail MerchantStarsSaeed JaffreyZohra SehgalKareem SamarRoughly structured over 24 hours, we visit Pavan Pool, a compound in Bombay where poor women sing, dance, and engage in prostitution. By day, they practice singing and dancing, both traditional and pop. Brothers and uncles with musical talent accompany them; the other men are idle, gambling and laying about, living off the women's earnings. At night, men come to the compound, walking past room after room of performing women, sitting down to listen to those who interest them. What they pay is up to them. After hours, prostitution begins. Our guides are the compound's rent collector, an older woman who grew up there, and a bit-part actor who spends his earnings there.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJulie ChristieGreta ScacchiChristopher CazenoveAnne is investigating the life of her grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has always been shrouded with scandal. As Anne delves into the history of her grand-aunt, she is led to reconsider her own life.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsChristopher ReeveVanessa RedgraveJessica TandyA Boston feminist and a conservative Southern lawyer contend for the heart and mind of a beautiful and bright girl unsure of her future.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsMaggie SmithHelena Bonham CarterDenholm ElliottLucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
- DirectorConnie KaisermanStarsJames Earl JonesGeraldine PageMary Stuart MastersonA young girl agrees to work in a center for girls who can't stay with their parents. She gets wrapped up in the plights of several of the girls, and tries to help them, but only gets herself into trouble with her parents and supervisor.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames WilbyRupert GravesHugh GrantTwo English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up Maurice and marries. While staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice discovers romance in the arms of the gamekeeper Alec.
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsPierce BrosnanSaeed JaffreyShashi KapoorFact-based account of a secret society of murderers, and of the man who exposed them in British India 1825.
- DirectorZafar HaiM.R. ShahjahanStarsNaseeruddin ShahStellan SkarsgårdAmjad KhanPolice Inspector Ghote lives a middle-class life in Bombay along with his wife, Pratima. He has been employed with the Bombay Police for many years. His wife is generally disgruntled and wants a better life. He is assigned to investigate the deadly assault on a Parsi man named Perfect, who is the Secretary of Lala Heera Lal, a wealthy man with underworld links. Inspector Ghote commences his investigation and is displeased when his superiors ask him to work with a Swedish Forensic Expert by the name of Axel Svennson. Axel is thrilled to get a closer look at the working of the Bombay Police, but also realizes that Ghote may not be one of their best police officers. When their friendship develops, he gets invited to Ghote's house, and gets to meet Pratima. Their investigation, though Prima Facie simple enough, takes them through turns and twists that both had not expected - including corridors of power and corruption - and finally to the conclusion and the unmasking of the culprit(s) behind this incident.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsBernadette PetersAdam Coleman HowardChris SarandonBenadette Peters stars in this ironic film based on Tama Janowitz's best-selling collection of short stories that defined the downtown New York art scene of the 1980s
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardSaundra McClainSet during World War II, an upper-class family begins to fall apart due to the conservative nature of the patriarch and the progressive values of his children.
- DirectorSimon CallowStarsVanessa RedgraveKeith CarradineCork HubbertA tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric, selling corn liquor and dispensing medicine. She takes in her half-sister's son, a diminutive crook-back named Lymon. He suggests they open a café in the downstairs of her large house. Marvin Macy gets out of prison and returns to town; turns out he was married to Amelia but it wasn't consummated. He pleaded, then got angry. Is he back for revenge? Eventually, Amelia and Marvin stage a no-holds-barred fight in the café. Lymon's complicated response to Marvin and to Cousin Amelia figures in the resolution.
- DirectorRichard RobbinsStarsTrevor NicholsRosemary MartinRichard RobbinsOff-camera, a Western traveler tells us of hearing singing from his hotel window in Bombay. He searches for the source, and discovers a caste of street performers, eking out a modest living. We see individuals and groups, old and young, snake charmers and those hired to sing at family celebrations. A few talk about their lives and refute accusations of kidnapping lodged against the caste. A troupe of women sing at a party for a pregnant woman - they are saucy and blunt, encouraging and sisterly.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsAnthony HopkinsEmma ThompsonVanessa RedgraveSet in the early 20th century, class distinctions and troubled relations affect the relationship between two families and the ownership of a cherished British estate known as Howards End.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsAnthony HopkinsEmma ThompsonJohn HaycraftA butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years leading up to World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty was to his lordly employer.
- DirectorIsmail MerchantStarsShashi KapoorShabana AzmiOm PuriA poet of Urdu fame is struggling with his legacy while an aspiring poet and historian comes to document him like never before and in return becomes custodian of the great poets last verses.
- DirectorChristopher MenaulStarsEmbeth DavidtzTom BellGemma JonesAfter an abandoned young woman in late 19th Century England is taken in by a rural couple with three handsome sons, tragic consequences result.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsNick NolteGreta ScacchiGwyneth PaltrowWidower Thomas Jefferson (3rd US president 1801-09) lives in Paris 1785-90 with his daughter. He has a pretty slave girl accompany his other daughter to France. He has an alleged affair with her resulting in children.
- DirectorIsmail MerchantStarsJeanne MoreauSean YoungSam WaterstonAn expatriated French novelist (Jeanne Moreau) returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block. What she doesn't count on is that she has to confront many old issues dating back to her childhood and bringing herself full circle to her present day life.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsAnthony HopkinsNatascha McElhoneJulianne MooreThe passionate Merchant Ivory drama tells the story of Françoise Gilot (Natascha McElhone), the only lover of Pablo Picasso (Sir Anthony Hopkins) who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty, and move on with her life.
- DirectorTony GerberStarsShabana AzmiValeria GolinoShashi KapoorStaten Island cab-driver Bipin Raj picks up a passenger and mistakes her for a movie star; he tells her that his brother, Vikram Raj, is a Bollywood megastar with millions of fans and is currently living with him and his wife and two children. But all is not hunky-dory in the Raj household, for Mrs. Chandra Bipin Raj's initial thrill at meeting her megastar brother-in-law has simmered down and she is anxious for him to leave. Vikram Raj might have been a handsome man in his younger years, but now he is a grossly-overweight, macho, lazy alcoholic. But all is not lost: several ardent fans visit him and dance to his film songs, much to Chandra's exasperation. A few days later, Vikram claims that Al Pacino has phoned him and wants to meet to discuss a film script. The Raj family gives him a fond farewell. This short story, as well as the stories of a dress-designer, a drug-dealer working at a meat-shop, and a beauty queen's slacker husband, introduce people of diverse cultures living their separate yet inter-connected lives in this busy metropolis.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsLeelee SobieskiKris KristoffersonBarbara HersheyThis fictionalized story, based on the family life of writer James Jones, is an emotionless slice-of-life story. Jones here is portrayed as Bill Willis, a former war hero and now successful author who obviously drinks too much and is starting to experience health problems.
- DirectorIsmail MerchantMadhur JaffreyStarsGreta ScacchiMadhur JaffreyJames WilbyA British family is trapped between culture, tradition, and the colonial sins of the past.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsUma ThurmanJeremy NorthamKate BeckinsaleA man marries an heiress for her money even though he is actually in love with her friend.
- DirectorIsmail MerchantStarsOm PuriJames FoxAasif MandviIn 1950s Trinidad, a frustrated writer supports himself as a masseur--and soon becomes a revered mystic and politico.
- DirectorAndrew LitvackStarsDianne WiestJane BirkinStanislas MerharA hot young phone sex addict and his narcissistic opera diva mom. A dangerously agitated hustler and a half-dozen dangerously agitated hustlers who look just like him. A tittering neurotic who thinks she's Vanessa Redgrave and Vanessa Redgrave herself. Pot brownies, puke jokes, a gay dad, a flying lesbian, Jerry Hall, a dead body and a fetish for Brian DePalma movies! Anchoring the mayhem is Elisabeth Beaumont, an American opera star visiting Paris to perform "Turandot" and dabble in some belated mothering of her 23 year-old son Thomas. Thomas doesn't need mothering; he needs some good hot manhandling. And, in the best DePalma tradition, the quest for sex leads to voyeurism and voyeurism, leads to murder. From there, it's just a short path to therapy. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist that Thomas visits is a little on the dead side herself, and a nutty patient has taken her place.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsKate HudsonNaomi WattsStockard ChanningFrench vs. American social customs and behaviors are observed in a story about an American visiting her sister and French brother-in-law and niece in Paris.
- DirectorChris TerrioStarsElizabeth BanksGlenn CloseJames MarsdenSpanning 24 hours, "Heights" follows five New Yorkers challenged to choose their destiny before the sun comes up the next day.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsRalph FiennesNatasha RichardsonVanessa RedgraveIn 1930s Shanghai, a blind American diplomat develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee who works odd--and sometimes illicit--jobs to support members of her dead husband's aristocratic family.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsOmar MetwallyAnthony HopkinsCharlotte GainsbourgOmar wants to write an authorized biography on a dead writer and travels to a farm in Uruguay to meet the trustees - the writer's brother, widow and cute mistress/mother of his daughter.
- DirectorSantosh SivanStarsLinus RoacheRahul BoseNandita DasA English spice baron settles in South India during the waning years of the Raj.