# What happened to merchant ivory style films? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174 "2019-02-25T13:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cindycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/54ee81/32.png) [@Cindycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cindycat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/1 "2019-02-25T13:46:32Z")
I miss the high quality movies of the late 80s and early 90s such as Howard’s End, The Age of Innocence, and Sense and Sensibility. I know movies like this do exist still, and yet they don’t have the same soul. Maybe I’m just using rosy retrospection. It seems like everything now (almost) is computer generated or based off of comic books. And what happened to Kate Winslet? She used to be on top notch period pieces. Her recent films have been disappointing. Does anyone have any recommendations of films that will restore my faith that intelligence, quality, and sincerity still exists in cinema? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/2 "2019-02-25T14:22:52Z")
Well, _The Favourite_ was in the same vein, though with more humor and bawdiness. Same for _Mary Queen of Scots_. I’d argue that _Roma_ was a more modern take on the same type of film. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/3 "2019-02-25T14:30:39Z")
The main thing that happened was Ismail Merchant died in 2005. James Ivory is still working; he won an Oscar last year, not as a director, but for writing best adapted screenplay for [_Call Me By Your Name_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5726616/) – which is beautiful, but not the kind of period piece you’re looking for. I haven’t seen much in the way of good, old-fashioned period films lately. I haven’t seen _The Favourite_ yet, so I don’t know if that’s any good. Usually, I look to British television for literary adaptations of classic novels. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/4 "2019-02-25T16:52:22Z")
I think the trouble is that so many of these productions have moved to boxsetville - the BBC (and ITV) still churn out high quality period adaptations for TV - but films, not so much. Of course, there’s always Downton Abbey the Movie to look forward to! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/5 "2019-02-26T03:27:22Z")
_The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society_ is a nice little pastoral, romantic movie set on a German-occupied British island in WWII. There are a few _Downton Abbey_ alums in the cast, including Lily James as the lead. It’s available to stream on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/6 "2019-02-26T03:35:10Z")
Another lovely period movie from a few years ago is _Brooklyn_, starring Saoirse Ronan as a young Irish woman who travels alone to America to find employment and start a new life. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/7 "2019-02-26T05:02:03Z")
I think you get your fix for that kind of thing on British TV now. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/8 "2019-02-26T05:18:26Z")
Looks like _[Tolkien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_(film))_ and _[All Is True](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Is_True)_ might fit the bill somewhat–they’ll both be released in the US on May 10th. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/9 "2019-02-26T06:11:58Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > The main thing that happened was Ismail Merchant died in 2005. Just as [important](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Prawer_Jhabvala#Selected_screenplays), IMO, is that [Ruth Prawer Jhabvala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Prawer_Jhabvala)isn’t with us anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/10 "2019-02-26T09:12:37Z")
Miramax also took over that spot until Disney sold it and it dissolved ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/11 "2019-02-26T12:28:40Z")
Thought I’d mention that, a year ago today, _Phantom Thread_ was in theaters getting lots of buzz in the last days before the 2018 Oscars. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/12 "2019-02-26T18:06:57Z")
I’ve always described my taste in movies as “Merchant-Ivory,” and I’m still finding plenty of films that I enjoy. You might try one of these: _Colette_ (2018) _On the Basis of Sex_ (2018) _Stan & Ollie_ (2018) _Darkest Hour_ (2017) _Goodbye, Christopher Robin_ (2017) (this is the true story, not the fantasy movie called just Christopher Robin) _The Man Who Invented Christmas_ (2017) _A United Kingdom_ (2016) _The Danish Girl_ (2015) _The Man Who Knew Infinity_ (2015) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/13 "2019-02-26T18:23:56Z")
Timed out before I could add: Kate Winslet has two upcoming films, _The French Dispatch_, about journalists in Paris after World War II, and _Ammonite_, a romance that takes place in the 1840’s. Also, if you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend her performance in _Steve Jobs_. I really thought she should have won the Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-merchant-ivory-style-films/830174/14 "2019-02-26T18:43:23Z")
There are a couple of production companies / labels that are known for distributing smaller, independent or foreign films, incuding Focus Features and Fox Searchlight. They seem to largely be arms of the major studios, but they exist as a separate imprint, with that emphasis on smaller films, which aren’t as likely to appeal to a mass audience.