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 & 27 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

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language, violence and sensuality.

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:

Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter appeared together again 15 years later in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), as Professor Sybil Trelawney and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Charlie and Dolly Wilcox are hiding from Margaret Schlegel in the castle, the scene closes with low angle wide shot of the castle with a view of the sky behind it, revealing several aircraft contrails. There were no aircraft capable of leaving high-altitude contrails in the time period this movie is set in.

Quotes:

Margaret Schlegel: Mr. Wilcox, I am demented!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Building 'Howards End' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Lullaby

A Journey Everyone Should Take

The literary period piece is a difficult genre to master, requiring a difficult balancing between restraint and flowing emotion. Few films effectively achieve this as beautifully as Merchant-Ivory's astounding HOWARDS END, making it probably the best period film of the 1990's. The film juxtapositions the intellectual, emotionally unhindered Schlegel sisters against the restrained, imperious Wilcox family, and, for good measure, mixes in the differing attitudes toward class emerging early in the century. What could quite easily have been a dry study in the cultural dynamics of pre-WWI England becomes an enveloping tale, thanks in no small part to the performances by Hopkins, Emma Thompson, and Vanessa Redgrave, whose Ruth Wilcox remains enigmatic after every viewing. The emotions ringing through by film's end - not to mention its astoundingly pointed social criticism - give the film its power, a power missing even from Forster's rambling, distant novel. And this story is nestled amongst some of the most beautiful art direction, music, and cinematography to ever grace the screen. The haunting journey to HOWARDS END is one few other recent films can rival.