Howards End (1992)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

E.M. Forster (novel)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A businessman thwarts his wife's bequest of an estate to another woman.

Plot Keywords:

Wealthy Family | England | Aristocrat | Will | Prejudice

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 26 nominations

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	...	Ruth Wilcox
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Helen Schlegel
Joseph Bennett	...	Paul Wilcox
Emma Thompson	...	Margaret J. 'Meg' Schlegel
Prunella Scales	...	Aunt Juley
Adrian Ross Magenty	...	Tibby Schlegel
Jo Kendall	...	Annie
Anthony Hopkins	...	Henry J. Wilcox
James Wilby	...	Charles Wilcox
Jemma Redgrave	...	Evie Wilcox
Ian Latimer	...	Stationmaster
Samuel West	...	Leonard Bast
Mary Nash	...	Pianist
Siegbert Prawer	...	Man Asking a Question
Susie Lindeman	...	Dolly Wilcox

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

UK | Japan

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:6 | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Ireland:PG

Filming Locations:

Admiralty Arch, The Mall, St. James's, London, England, UK

Company:

Merchant Ivory Productions

Trivia:

Ismail Merchant had to pay $250,000 for the rights to the E.M. Forster novel to the trustees of Forster's estate, King's College in Cambridge. Merchant considered this an exorbitant sum but he had to match a Hollywood offer that the college was also considering at the time.

Quotes:

Henry Wilcox: The poor are the poor, and one's sorry for them - but there it is.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Critic: I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show (#2.10)" (1995)

A superb adaptation

It is virtually impossible to imagine a finer film adaptation of a literary classic than the Merchant-Ivory production of E. M. Forster's "Howards End". A darker and more substantial novel than Forster's "A Room With a View" (charmingly filmed by the same team in 1985), "Howards End" depicts the cultural collision of two very different middle class families in Edwardian England: the idealistic, bookish Schlegels and the stolid, conservative Wilcoxes. At the heart of the unlikely relationship between these two families is the friendship of the elder Schlegel sister Margaret (Emma Thompson) and the matriarchal Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave). They find in each other a kinship that runs far deeper than society and culture. Indeed for Mrs. Wilcox, Margaret comes to represent her true spiritual heir, one to whom she can entrust her beloved country home, Howards End, after her death. The repercussions of this friendship will dramatically change the lives not only of their respective families, but also that of Leonard Bast (Sam West), a romantic young clerk whose fate, through a chance encounter with the younger Schlegel sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter), becomes tragically entangled with them. It's a humanistic and subtly mystical story which posits the deep inter-connectedness of all human beings, and sharply critiques the English class system which fatally fractures those connections.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has written a masterful screenplay, maintaining the essence of Forster but in the main adding an extra degree of warmth to many of the characters so that they seem less frosty than they sometimes do in the novel. Characterization is further enhanced by perfect casting. Some of Britain's finest actors excel themselves here. Never has a Best Actress Oscar been more well-deserved than Emma Thompson's. She is vibrant and beautiful in this film and brings the spirited, pragmatic Margaret of Forster's story to brilliant life. One feels that she and her fellow cast members have understood their material absolutely, and all inhabit their characters so naturally and completely that one forgets one is watching an acting masterclass. Indeed everything, down to the locations that are used and the 'casting' of the beautiful house that 'plays' Howards End itself, is perfectly judged.

James Ivory deserves immense credit for drawing such universally strong yet unshowy performances from his cast, and for allowing the story to breath by never allowing his camera to dwell unnecessarily on the admittedly impeccable period trappings, and also by including several delicately photographed 'natural' interludes in which the gentle springtime beauty of the English countryside comes to the fore. Never the most fashionable of directors, Ivory is nevertheless a supreme craftsman when it comes to literary period pieces and "Howard's End" is arguably his greatest masterpiece.

Finally I should mention the musical soundtrack. To accompany some atmospheric piano pieces by Percy Grainger, the excellent Richard Robbins has conjured another mesmerising score which provides a compelling pulse to a quite exquisite movie.