The Cohen Media Group/Cohen Film Collection will be re-releasing James Ivory’s classic romance film Maurice (based on the novel by E.M. Forster) in theaters just in time for the film’s 30th anniversary – and is being upgraded with a stunning 4K restoration. Starring James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves, and Ben Kingsley, Maurice is a touching story about forbidden love in a time when people knew and/or understood little about the nature of homosexuality.
Synopsis: In pre-World War I England, Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) find themselves falling in love while attending the University of Cambridge. In a time when homosexuality was punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a complete secret. After their friend Lord Risley (Mark Tandy) is arrested and sentenced to six months of hard labor after soliciting sex from a soldier, Clive abandons his forbidden love and marries a young woman. Maurice, however, struggles with questions of his identity and self-confidence, seeking the help of a hypnotist (Ben Kingsley) to rid himself of his undeniable urges.
But while staying with Clive and his shallow wife, Anne (Phoebe Nicholls), Maurice attracts the attention of Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves), the under-gamekeeper. Alec then leaves his family in order to stay with Maurice, whom he tells, “Now we shan’t never be parted.”
Upon its original release, Maurice received critical praise and honors including an Academy Award® nomination (Best Costume Design for Jenny Beavan & John Bright) for the 60th Academy Awards®, three Venice Film Festival wins (Best Actors for Hugh Grant & James Wilby, Best Score for Golden Osella and Richard Robbins, and the Silver Lion Award for director James Ivory), and a nomination for the Golden Lion Award for the 44th Annual Venice International Film Festival.
The 4K restored version of Maurice will be shown in Los Angeles on June 2nd at the Nuart Theater located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Maurice has a run time of 140 and is Rated R. For more information on Maurice, click here; for more information on the Cohen Film Collection, click here.
