Hugh Grant is one of the famous faces to star in a fascinating documentary film, Merchant Ivory, which premiered at DOC NYC on Saturday November 11, which HELLO! were lucky enough to attend.
As per the title, the documentary focuses on the compelling partnership - both professional and personal - of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, along with writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins.
Hugh features in the documentary as he gives an incredible insight into his time working with the renowned film production company, admitting in one scene that he wasn't even going to say yes to starring in Maurice, the iconic 1987 film that made him famous, but that it was his brother who ultimately persuaded him.
A young Hugh features in several flashbacks as footage from the Merchant Ivory films plays throughout the documentary.
He also starred in the award-winning 1993 film, The Remains of the Day, alongside Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, and the 1985 classic, A Room With a View, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands and Maggie Smith.
Other interviews during the 112 minute documentary include Emma, Helena, Vanessa Redgrave, Rupert Graves, James Wilby, as well as James Ivory himself.
Director Stephen Soucy said in a statement: "There’s no other story like Merchant Ivory in the history of cinema and what a gift to be given an inside view of the Merchant Ivory World from James Ivory and the more than 50 collaborators I interviewed in New York, London, Paris, and Los Angeles, in making this documentary film.
© Mikki Ansin"James Ivory is one of our greatest living directors and at 95 years old, this Oscar-winner for the much-lauded, Call Me by Your Name, shows no sign of slowing down. He’s still working, having recently adapted a Ruth Jhabvala short story, The Judge’s Will, for director Alexander Payne and the French novel, The End of Eddy, slated to be a multi-episode miniseries."
He continued: "Once James Ivory, Ismail Merchant, and Ruth Jhabvala met, they were connected forever. Their work and personal lives entwined for over forty-five years, and they became the most famous collaborative troika in film history.
"Merchant Ivory released 43 films. Many were fraught productions, often budget-related, and their last film, The City of Your Final Destination, brought the company to bankruptcy.
"A look at the comprehensive list of films that Merchant Ivory made, and the roster of talent they worked with, reveals that theirs was a spectacular achievement. The Merchant Ivory story, with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant at its center, is about art, money, partnership, loyalty, dysfunction, love, jealousy, and eventually for Jim, the necessity to move forward and embark on a new chapter after Ismail’s passing."
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