A film by Merchant Ivory Productions > > Maurice gets its own special place here because a) I love Hugh Grant, and b) it intelligently explores early 20th century English society without the frills of other period novels. Yes, I said novel. Maurice is based on a book by E.M. Forster and was written in 1917 in dealing with his own homosexuality. However, by his own request, the book wasn't published until 1971, a year after his death. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a coming-of-age drama, nor is it the old story of one man's triumph when the world is against him. It is simply the story of two men trying to live their lives and fit into a hypocritical, homophobic society that has pre-ordained positions for them. The problem is that they don't fit the mold, and what's worse, their differences from everyone else's can be punishable by law, can get them publicly shamed and finally ruined for life in the eyes of their family and peers. It's a story of Clive (Hugh Grant) and Maurice (James Wilby), two students who meet at Cambridge and quickly form a friendship. Clive is well-read and educated; he believes in the ideal relationship outlined in the Greek philosophy he reads- that two men can establish the highest level of a relationship that can possibly exist, far beyond what is possible between a man and woman. Maurice, though slow to start, seems not so interested in the ideal, but in the romantic form of love. He is the passionate one, while Clive keeps it 'safe'. It is Maurice (pronounced "Morris") who stumbles along bravely with what he is, while Clive finally succumbs to the pressures and fears English society presses on them.