For this week's return of Hit me with your best shot, I was able to eliminate another Best Picture nominee blind spot with 1985's "A Room with a View". In truth, I thought I'd seen the film already, but I was happy to have misremembered "The Wings of the Dove" so that I could be introduced to yet another lovely Helen Bonham Carter costume drama. And once again, she doesn't disappoint.
But the most surprising delight for me wasn't her performance as Lucy , nor was it the sumptuous visuals or the winning dashes of humor. My favorite aspect of the film instead, was Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as Bonham-Carter's betrothed. Well-known for his brutish Daniel Plainview, his role here forced him to be an absolute gentleman, and I loved every preening, posh second of it. He is the epitome of the stuffy Victorian ideal that lends the film it's title and as such, I thought it would be fitting to focus on him for my best shot.
Click below for my favorite shot...
My chosen shot above comes from an early scene where Cecil and Lucy go for a pleasant stroll and a little chit-chat, shortly after their engagement. As is his wont, he isn't much interested in what she has to say, opting to rest himself under a tree like a delicate flower (with an actual flower appropriately placed by his side). And in this moment we see him as his true self, staring into the sky, oblivious to the changing society around him.
