Ismail Merchant's Florence

Download or read book Ismail Merchant's Florence written by Ismail Merchant and published by ABRAMS. This book was released on 1994 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ismail Merchant's account of the filming of A Room with a View is really a song in praise of the Tuscan table. For while Merchant recounts the problems - both hilarious and daunting - in trying to shoot a movie in the crowded tourist mecca of Florence, his most passionate prose is reserved for those moments - and there were many of them - when he and his cast and crew stopped to sample the bounty of the Tuscan countryside and the world-famous creations of the Florentine kitchen. Accompanied by production shots and stunning still life photographs by Derrick Santini, Ismail Merchant's text lets the reader wander behind the scenes in the shooting of a major motion picture. We learn how, for example, a "view" was created from a room that, in fact, had no view, and how, amid angry demonstrators and hungry pigeons, fully dressed stars and extras managed successfully to complete the famous scene in the Piazza Signoria. But between takes, Ismail Merchant always returns to the table, whether it is set at Florence's famous Il Cavallino restaurant or in the stately Villa Maiano, whether it is really only a picnic spread out on a hillside or tripe eaten on the street. And, when not at the table, Merchant is in the markets, sampling the fruit and vegetables fresh from the farm that give Tuscan cooking its unique character. When the tale has been told, and the last meal eaten, to satisfy the reader's inevitable hunger, Merchant provides seventy recipes from antipasti to desserts that can be successfully prepared in any kitchen.