Emma Thompson

Helena Bonham Carter

Anthony Hopkins

Samuel West

Vanessa Redgrave

Adrian Ross Magenty

Prunella Scales

James Wilby

Joseph Bennett

Jo Kendall

Jemma Redgrave

Crispin Bonham-Carter

Ian Latimer

Siegbert Prawer

Susie Lindeman

Nicola Duffett

Mark Tandy

Andrew St. Clair

Anne Lambton

Emma Godfrey

Duncan Brown

Iain Kelly

Atalanta White

Gerald Paris

Allie Byrne

Sally Geoghegan

Paula Stockbridge

Bridget Duvall

Lucy Freeman

Harriet Stewart

Tina Leslie

Mark Payton

Delaney Davidson

Mary McWilliams

Barbara Hicks

Rodney Rymell

Luke Parry

Antony Gilding

Peter Cellier

Patricia Lawrence

Margery Mason

Jim Bowden

Alan James

Jocelyn Cobb

Peter Darling

Terence Sach

Brian Lipson

Mary Nash

Barr Heckstall-Smith

Simon Callow

James Ivory

E.M. Forster

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Ismail Merchant

Tony Pierce-Roberts

Richard Robbins

Andrew Marcus

Luciana Arrighi

Paul Bradley

Ann Wingate

Celestia Fox

John Ralph

Ian Whittaker

Jenny Beavan

John Bright

Christine Beveridge

Sian Grigg

Carol Hemming

Sallie Jaye

Paolo Mantini

Donald Rosenfeld

Drama

Romance

Howards End

Merchant Ivory Productions

Japan Satellite Broadcasting

IMAGICA

Sumitomo Corporation

Film Four International

Cinema Ten Corporation

Ide Productions

Japan

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

Deutsch

london, england

sibling relationship

countryside

based on novel or book

empowerment

sister

class differences

turn of the century

edwardian england

1900s

wealthy family

sister sister relationship

The script itself is not up the level of Remains of the Day, but then E.M.Forster is not Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go). Nevertheless E.M.Forster gives us a huge, complex story that holds our interest for the entire 142 minutes.

And the Ivory-Merchant team contributes a beautiful setpiece, complete with perfect cinematography, locations, costumes and a team of the finest actors in Britain. And two of the Redgrave family to play mother and daughter. The acting from everyone on screen is phenomenal!

CinemaSerf

I think this might be the pinnacle of the Merchant Ivory storytelling world (with thanks to E.M. Forster), as a strong ensemble cast assembles to tell a tale of Edwardian Britain that brings into stark focus a class system that is just beginning to show some cracks. "Wilcox" (Anthony Hopkins) is what I suppose you'd call nouveau riche. A millionaire industrialist who has acquired quite a few grand country properties from the increasingly impoverished aristocracy. When his first wife (Vanessa Redgrave) dies at the eponymous country cottage, she has apparently promised it to her friend "Margaret" (Emma Thompson) but the family choose to disregard the bequeathing letter and she is none the wiser. Meantime, her well meaning and quite fussy sister "Helen" (Helena Bonham-Carter) has become aware of the hard working clerk "Bast" (Samuel West) who is married, sympathetically but rather unlovingly, to "Jacky" (Nicola Duffett) and not without ambition. "Wilcox" is set upon remarrying, and it's "Margaret" who gets the nod. Thing is, though, can there ever be any chance of any real love between them, or indeed for any of them, as the family ghosts - past and present, come back to haunt them and poor "Bast"? It's a grand looking saga this, and it plays the politics of the day well as there are three initially distinct strata of society gradually intermingling, some more willingly than others, throughout the unfolding drama. I actually thought it was the engaging effort from Duffett that stole the show, but Redgrave also contributes well, if briefly, as the ailing "Mrs. Wilcox" and Samuel West also stands out, portraying his character  as a decent man who is a fish-out-of water at the best of times, but even more adrift after entrusting himself and his affairs to "Helen". It's a characterful study of human nature that shows up hypocrisy and delivers kindness, showcases nicely all the artifice of the creative talent and is worth a watch.

Howards End (1992) Original Trailer [FHD]

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Merchant Ivory's HOWARDS END (4K Restoration) | Official US Trailer | Academy Award Winner

Howards End( 1992)

Based on the Novel by E.M. Forster

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A review by badelf

Written by badelf on Wed Nov 22 2023

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