11.14.2009

Howards End (1992) - The Criterion Collection

Howards End

James Ivory

United Kingdom

1992

142 minutes

Color

2.35:1

English

Watch Film for $5

488

Synopsis

The pinnacle of the decades-long collaboration between producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, Howards End is a luminous vision of E. M. Forster’s cutting 1910 novel about class divisions in Edwardian England. Emma Thompson won an Academy Award for her dynamic portrayal of Margaret Schlegel, a flighty yet compassionate middle-class intellectual whose friendship with the dying wife (Vanessa Redgrave) of rich capitalist Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) commences an intricately woven tale of money, love, and death that encompasses the country’s highest and lowest social echelons. With a brilliant, layered script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (who also won an Oscar) and a roster of gripping performances, Howards End is a work of both great beauty and vivid darkness, and one of cinema’s best literary adaptations.

Cast

Margaret SchlegelEmma Thompson
Henry WilcoxAnthony Hopkins
Ruth WilcoxVanessa Redgrave
Helen SchlegelHelena Bonham Carter
Leonard BastSamuel West
Charles WilcoxJames Wilby
Aunt JuleyPrunella Scales
Evie WilcoxJemma Redgrave
Paul WilcoxJoseph Bennett
Tibby SchlegelAdrian Ross Magenty
Dolly WilcoxSusie Lindeman
Jacky BastNicola Duffett
Miss AveryBarbara Hicks

Credits

DirectorJames Ivory
ScreenplayRuth Prawer Jhabvala
ProducerIsmail Merchant
Based on the novel byE.M. Forster
Associate producerDonald Rosenfeld
MusicRichard Robbins
CinematographyTony Pierce-Roberts
EditingAndrew Marcus
CostumesJenny Beavan and John Bright
Production DesignLuciana Arrighi
Art DirectionJohn Ralph