Maurice OST - Richard Robbins - End Title

In 1987 period film director/producer duo and real-life partners Ismail Merchant and James Ivory took a big risk in making the film MAURICE, based off of the controversial and post-humously published semi-autobiographical novel by the great E.M. Forster. Riding off of the coattails of their previous success with the popular adaptation of another E.M. Forster novel, A Room With A View, the Merchant/Ivory film of Maurice ended up slipping neatly under the radar, with critics agreeing that it was well-done, but no one having the courage to promote it at the cost of speculation about their own orientations.
I am of the belief that it is a truly great film. Were it to come out today its popularity would probably rival that of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, and it would be deservedly so, for Maurice is a far greater film than that much heralded one.
The title character of Maurice, (James Wilby) is a young man in college, a young man who eventually meets Clive (Hugh Grant), who is, like Maurice, a closeted gay, but, unlike Maurice, unable to come to terms with any sort of relationship between men that is not purely platonic. As their friendship turns into a relationship both men delve into deep frustration with the others opposite views; this is to such an extreme that Clive gets married.
We slowly realize how much Clive loves Maurice, but how he cannot bring himself to terms with that love, resulting in his own tragedy or repression. Maurice, however, liberates himself, finding love in a young Irishman named Scudder (Rupert Graves). This movie is probably the most honest and passionate portrayal of homosexuality, and the fact that it has a long line of creators who are or were gay themselves makes it all the more impactful.

Director: James Ivory
Producer: Ismail Merchant
Music: Richard Robbins
Actors: James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves.

Book by E.M. Forster.