E.M. Forster documentary 

The Christopher Isherwood interview captures the surprising and unexpected element in E. M. Forster's life he was not self pitying shamed suicidal or even depressed he was for the most part content with his life, friends, adopted family and his work.

What a wonderful documentary about an extraordinary man and writer.

So glad you posted this. Admired Forster as a writer, now, because of this documentary, I appreciate him as the man and intellectual force that he was. Thank you kindly.

Just excellent. He's my favourite author in modernist English literature, a brilliant and gentle mind.

Thank you for producing this. It helping me come to terms with my husband's homosexuality. We married when we were young. It's like he thought if he married a woman and had children the gay would go away. I didn't know he was gay for many years. I didn't think I was marrying a gay man. So sad.

"Tolerance, good temper, sympathy," E.E. Cummings. All of his literary works, novels, essays, short stories, letters, are a journey into a soul of one of our extradinary writers.I would have loved enormously to have read his diaries. Curiously, I have known him intimately with his marvelous words. Thank you for this documentary 🙏 ❤️

Beautifully done. You get a real sense of the man as a moral force in writing and as a person.

One of the very best documentaries of one of the very best writers in the English language. His sensitivity has no equal, which is so beautifully portrayed in this video. My deepest gratitude to the makers of soul in these films.

A Passage to India is the only book Ive read and when I'd finished it, I immediately read it again. It contains the kind of riches that satisfy my heart completely.

Lovely, enriching documentary. As a gay man of 70, Forster's journey rings powerfully true for me. I must thank the Ismael/Merchant and Lean films for introducing me to his brilliant prose. How lucky we are for all these brilliant minds.

Oof the bit abt May made me cry What a warmhearted family, and it's such a relief to hear he didnt die lonely

THANK YOU for these. I’ve spent this entire rainy day watching them and finding out about so many of my favorite authors. Now I want to reread all their books.

So many of you may not have noticed, but the people narrating this documentary have been in a film that was by E.M Forster and directed by James Ivory and Ishmail Merchant. I can hear James Wilby doing a lot of narrating in this who played the character 'Maurice' in the film and a few other actors as well.

Thank you for this mindful documentary. Beautifully crafted and all involved sensitive and deeply appreciative of Forster’s writing and nature. Visually so satisfying too.🌹🌹🌹👌🏽💛🙏🏽

I haven’t really found many good videos about the life of Forster and when I discovered this, I was instantly HOOKED. I am now left believing that he is one of the most genuine and ‘human’ authors out there. He’s clearly struggling during his lifetime with a lot of confusion-And yet, it seems that he had still manage to pass away with a lot solace within his soul. I’m very proud of him. Just bought ‘A Room With A View’ and am definitely planning to buy more of his books and hopefully even make a collection out of it. Discovering E.M.Forster through ‘Maurice’ (the movie) is something I don’t regret. I can’t help but smile throughout this video. The way he explores life is so unique and I’m even prouder that he’s very open-minded about it. Anyways, thanks for the great video! It truly made my day!

Totally fantastic documentary - have enjoyed this again and again

An extraordinary man, extraordinary life. Worth bearing in mind that many gay people in many countries still live with the same constraints that hampered Forster as a public voice. I would have liked to see reference to his time as secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas, described in his book, The Hill of Devi.

Thank you for posting this, I so much enjoyed the details of his life and writings. I have taken to reading up as much as I can find, written by and about him. He was quite a force in early 20th century literature and philosophy.

I read that Forester couldn't find a publisher for "Maurice" because he refused to give the book a "sad ending" featuring either the separation and/or suicide of one of the gay lovers. The book wasn't published until after his death and when it was "OK' to have a "happy ending" in which the gay couple live "happily ever after."

Thanks so much for this series of documentaries.

After watching this, I really want to read more of his books

The "Machine Stops" is a startling accurate view of the future.

...upset by American Foreign Policy, he was. My God he is correct.

Excellent and insightful documentary. Thank you

how have i never seen this channel! ❤️❤️❤️

James Wilby narrated this! My blond Maurice! Love him!

This was lovely. Thank you.

Brilliant documentary....and very moving!

One of my favorites.

Really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting.

Loved this documentary. What a beautiful man. Only connect…I wish we were connecting in America, relating to each other..

Absolutely beautiful. Thank you.

Lovely documentary. Thank you.

Great documentary of a great writer

Thank you for bringing something out, that was beyond curtains.

Thanks for sharing this. I really recommend EM Forster - A New Life by Wendy Moffat (featured here). I found it really insightful with great context of society, impact of anti-gay laws & the Oscar Wilde case and places like Cairo during WWI where Forster went as well as his relationship with Bob Buckingham. LDefinitely worth looking it up if you're interested to read more.

All those who were interviewed for this programme spoke about E. M. Foster and his works in such sensible and sensitive manners. His novels and wonderful adaptations by Merchant & Ivory, I personally feel, an unparallel achievement in literature. I am literally moved.

Howard,s Inn , The movie and book is one of the best books I have ever read.

Loved this.Thank you. for uploading. He was a much superior writer to Isherwood who I always thought of as a great bore.

It is worth drawing attention to Forster's story "The Machine Stopped", written in the early part of the last century predicting a life behind a screen. It is an uncanny prediction of our present time with the internet replacing human interaction so much .

a beautiful appreciation. thank you for this

Is this "His Longest Journey" or a separate documentary?

thanks post

The film(s) breakthrough in the 80's was a milestone supporting the gay movement. I feel such empathy for this man who was obviously terribly lonely and yet his words are extraordinary. He was very brave.

Thanks.

Plz made the caption available

Read a lot of Forster in my 20's...intresting book and man!

Than you!

Love ,love and the love so more, is the divine answer to any question, ever posed.

Phew. Now I MUST read Forster.

Resulted in lovely films . But casting Alec Guinness as an Indian was a huge error.. The Machine stops , one of the most brilliant sci-fi short stories ever . Fascinating man and writer & part of the Bloomsbury Group . A great Londoner , with compassion and insight.

Excellent film.

~ 28:20 . . ."[people] aren't connecting to each other. " It's all about vulnerability.

i love him.

Brilliant, thank you 🙏🏽 and unfortunately, even though there appears to be more tolerance and freedom today, ignorance still rules the world and most people give their allegiance to the rulers and therefore most of the people of the known world live in ignorance

I love great documentaries of this calibre of wonderful quality. I believe if this poor fellow said he was unhappy I believe it simply meant, he was mostly unhappy except when he picked up a pen, or read from a fine British novella. A what I call Yakaphoap, well, it proves that there is goof and bad in all of us.

Bestest

Was it just me, or was the music playing while the folk were speaking much too loud?

5. Is "My Policeman" Based on a True Story? While "My Policeman" isn't a true story, it's inspired by true events, which Roberts opened up about in an interview with The Guardian in February 2012. Roberts revealed she drew inspiration from the life of novelist E.M. Forster.

💖

We don’t see the violence around us. .

I think he is mentioned in a Fawlty Towers episode. 🙂

21:45

Forster wrote librettos for Benjamin Britten’s operas! Great ones. They were on a first name basis, close. Britten was gay, ofc, & in a lifelong relation w the tenor Peter Pears.

At 11:26 Forster says, “ I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country “. Jesus said, “ There is no greater love than this-that a person lay down his life to save his friends. This is the principle of life-the central principle of the kingdom of God “. John 15:13.

Not a fan of Forster's, but it's plain he was a good man, and probably ahead of his time. Can't see many of the other Bloomsberries being as tolerant, and open minded as Forster. Whatever they may have thought themselves to be, several of the Bloomberries were snobbish, both intellectually and socially, smug and superior in their attitudes towards what they considered to be the lower orders. Forster was probably the most truly democratic of them.

How sad. He was born 100 yrs too soon. I hv read all his novels and enjoyed them. "The longest Journey"" opens his life to his understanding of himself. I went to an all-boys school but there was no mention of his homosexuality. As a gay adult I wonder how, knowing this fact back then, would hv contributed to my understanding of his writings,

Damned fellow Americans who always have pretentions to knowing more about British artists than the Brits themselves.

Excellent interviews and analyses, but what a maudlin soundtrack and such kitsch stock photography...

41:50 minute real life #MyPoliceman life of E.M. Forster.and Bob and May.

It does sound crazy, I will admit, but sometimes I do regret that I was not born homosexual! It is like there is this whole mysterious world of arts and letters that I never came close to... just because I was and still am a heterosexual. And yes, I do love women. Always have. Always will.

Isn't education a wonderful thing. Is life not all about education.

Except for his first Work " The Longest Journey ", Ive read his other novels. From the outset I had no problems discerning his sense of "Otherness ". If he were undergoing the long journey today I believe he would be utterly appalled by this need to label, & compartmentalize aspects of Life. EG: LGBTQ, GAY, or queer. This need we have is fulfilled, then thrown into a sealed box , then thrown in am obscured cupboard & forgotten as it has been 'dealt with accordingly.Just leave it at "Other ", to do otherwise annoys my sensibilities.

I started to watch this because I enjoy Forster’s works. I stopped watching it because it interprets the past through the paradigms of the present.

You know what bothers me. It is putting too much emphasis on his sex life and not enough on his writings and stories

I know this isnt the main part of this documentary, but having lived in Cairo for several years, I know that men are still having sex on the beaches today there....!

Damn that stiff upper lip.

Very balanced, sensitive portrait of a complex man and talent. Documentary embraces Forster key concept: Only Connect.

"Sexsuality"

I’m thirty minutes in this documentary and can’t take it anymore. All I’ve heard is sex, sex, sex, gay, gay, gay. Gosh, can’t you people quit harping on that and talk about the making of his six books and analysis of the characters and writing style? You’d expect something richer and fuller from people who wrote books about him.

when one gets too much money (the “too much” being more than enough for you to live and spend on travel without needing to work really). You will become very unhappy and unfulfilled. You then start to think, you start to see all the sad things on this planet earth and the humans who do work. The hypocrisy of it all. You start writing, studying literature, doing art and all the liberating stuff that does not earn any money really. They become more intelligent because they think all the time. They become depressed. Sad. Angry. They always end up quite sad. That’s why smart people are depressed

This bio was more about the pompous academics than EM Forster.

Silly old stiff professor nervously trying to say men only had relationships with men because there were no woman around! Pfft! They were gay! Forster was gay! Gay people exist.

Yes, an excellent portrayal. Apparently he didn’t suffer being a ‘closet’ homosexual. Maybe he did? I wonder had he been more openly gay our laws may have changed. Thank you. Are all his writings accessible?

The mother left him 8,000 pounds which liberated him .... why do they never tell us how much that would equal in these modern times . So , instead we would have to look this up if we wanted to know .

The author Nicola Beauman is clueless about society then and now. Her ignorant views spoil this completely.

Seems more like a documentary for a gay studies course than about his writings...

All his books are boring as hell…

pity that helena bonham carter appeared in some of his movies, weak performer...