The Europeans (1979 film)

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The Europeans
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Ivory
Written by	Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Based on	The Europeans by Henry James
Produced by	Ismail Merchant
Starring	Lee Remick Robin Ellis Wesley Addy Lisa Eichhorn
Cinematography	Larry Pizer
Edited by	Humphrey Dixon
Music by	Richard Robbins (score) Clara Schumann (theme)
Production company	Merchant Ivory Productions
Distributed by	Enterprise Pictures
Release dates	May 1979 (1979-05) (Cannes) July 1979 (1979-07) (UK)
Running time	90 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$1,220,000[1]

The Europeans is a 1979 British Merchant Ivory film, directed by James Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant, and with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, based on Henry James's novel The Europeans (1878). It stars Lee Remick, Robin Ellis, Tim Woodward and Lisa Eichhorn. It was the first of Merchant Ivory's triptych of Henry James adaptations. It was followed by The Bostonians in 1984 and The Golden Bowl in 2001.

The plot follows the interaction between two European siblings and their American cousins. Facing hard times in Europe, Eugenia, a Baroness by marriage, and her younger artistic brother arrived for the first time in New England in the 1850s to meet their wealthy maternal uncle and their three cousins, the Wentworths. Their bohemian sophistication and alien ways dazzle some of their puritanical American relations and arouse suspicion in others.

The Europeans was the first of Merchant Ivory's period dramas, the genre for which they would become best known. Made on a modest budget, it nonetheless featured lavish costumes and sets, with top actors portraying genteel characters who suffer from disillusionment and tragic entanglements.