Merchant Ivory (2023)

A documentary of the film making partnership, both professional and personal, of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant from their meeting in 1961 through the forty films they made together, Merchant's death in 2005 and Ivory's post Merchant career. Directed by Stephen Soucy, this is a fascinating account of behind the scenes film making and the legacy of two very different men who somehow managed to make some of the best films of their era. It's also a story of two gay men who discreetly kept their sexual identity and their relationship private publicly in an era where being "out" was controversial although those close to them and their colleagues knew. The contributions of and their relationship with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins, both personal and professional, are strongly noted. The stories about the making of their films is manna for film buffs and the movie is rich with forthright interviews of those worked in Merchant Ivory films. Among them: Vanessa Redgrave, Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, Sam Waterston, James Fox, Rupert Graves, Greta Scacchi, Simon Callow and Natascha McElhone. Essential viewing for film buffs.