Helena Bohnham Carter on poetry

Helena Bonham Carter talks to Jolyon Connell, founder of Connell Guides, about poetry. Helena also reads her favourite poems, including ‘Warning’ by Jenny Joseph (also known by its famous line “When I’m an old woman I shall wear purple”).

The kiss in the poppy field from “A Room With a View”

“A Room With a View” (1985) was Director James Ivory’s masterpiece, and one of my favorite films of all time.

In this brilliant scene, Ivory combines beautiful cinematography with the music of Puccini. The song is “Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta” from Puccini’s La Rondine. The singer is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (listen to a full performace in the clip below.)

Actress Helena Bonham Carter, then eighteen years old, has since described the difficulty of the scene; walking in full skirt and high heels through the field in 90 degree heat, and being forcefully kissed by actor Julian Sand (while her mother watched from the sidelines), without laughing!