Brief Reflections on a "Room with a View"

     I enjoyed recently watching A Room with a View, and I look forward to reading the book by E.M. Forster. As the motion picture was released between my junior and senior years in high school, it's no great surprise that I managed to miss seeing it the first time it came around.  It's not exactly the kind of movie my group of friends would likely have enthusiastically pursued.  (In case you're wondering, other movies released in this same period included Aliens, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Top Gun, Stand by Me, and Pretty in Pink.)

     Again, the dimension of connecting with the world around you seems to be a theme that infuses this motion picture.  Especially with regards to the first part of the movie set in Florence, Italy, there is a strong sense in which the newcomers are firmly more in the tourist than traveler column.  There is a dissatisfaction with the accommodations, for instance.  The scene in which Lucy Honeychurch observes the fight is another scene in which the reality is not so comfortable an experience with which to join.  In the romantic relationship that develops, though, we see a character slowly growing into realization of this connection with not only the present, but also with the people around her.  

     All in all, the motion picture serves as a good reminder of the need for the traveler to immerse himself in the culture and to be open to new ways of understanding and connecting with the world beyond one's own narrow borders.