Film Forum

(1992) One of Merchant Ivory’s undisputed masterpieces, this adaptation of the classic 1910 novel is a saga of class relations and changing times in Edwardian England. Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) and her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter) become involved with two couples: a wealthy, conservative industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife (Vanessa Redgrave), and a working-class man (Sam West) and his mistress (Niccola Duffet). The interwoven fates and misfortunes of these three families, and the diverging trajectories of the two sisters’ lives, are connected to the ownership of Howards End, a beloved country home. A compelling, brilliantly acted study of one woman’s struggle to maintain her ideals and integrity in the face of Edwardian society’s moribund conformist values. DCP. Approx. 140 mins.

Reviews

“HOWARDS END ENDURES. This landmark example of a movie of passion, taste and sensitivity that honestly touches every emotion has not only not dated, it is as moving and relevant as it was the day of its 1992 release…What sets Howards End apart is the complex emotional life of its characters. This is a film capable of setting off lasting and heartfelt reverberations below an admittedly exquisite surface…Every time you see it, it moves you in different ways.”
– Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“Has more to say about class, love, and marriage than many other contemporary (and purportedly edgier) movies…Represents a kind of filmmaking that we’ve since lost — well written, nuanced and filled with complex roles, many of them for women.”
– Bilge Ebiri, The Village Voice

“The artistic pinnacle of what became known as the Merchant-Ivory brand.”
– Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“THE BEST OF ITS KIND! It’s brisk and funny, prim but open-minded, testy about pomposity even as it exemplifies what once was the most pompous of all movie genres. When is the last time that Hollywood assembled a cast this strong to act out a story this adult and this thoughtful, and staged then shot it with such urgent confidence? The film remains an enticing, elegant pleasure, alive with light and talk.”
– Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice 

“Watching Howards End again for the first time since its release, I was taken with just how rich the performances are, as well as the juicy language and striking production design.”
– Jordan Hoffman, Vanity Fair

“ANTHONY HOPKINS, EMMA THOMPSON AND HELENA BONHAM CARTER ALL EXCEL!”
– Time Out

“It moves. It’s alive. It storms through a complicated tome, juggling half a dozen key characters. More important, every frame bristles with activity: uncontainable people bustling about frames, fascinating actors saying more with copious body language than words, high drama blending with sharp (and, well, yes, tasteful) comedy...Team Merchant/Jhabvala mold the source with great care, directing its actors to fill the screen with their personalities. They can be big: Emma Thompson attacks Margaret with such force that it’s one of the most purely entertaining performances to ever score an Oscar. But they can be small, fragile; Vanesa Redgrave, as the Hilcox elder, is so magnetically quiet, off in her own world, that her character’s passing in the first half-hour haunts the rest of the movie like a ghost.”
– Matt Prigge, Metro

“Among the best work by the team of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant…A film seething with anger, passion, greed and emotional violence.”
– Roger Ebert

“ENTERTAINING, RICHLY TEXTURED. ELEGANT, FUNNY, AND ROMANTIC. Though full of plot, Howards End is a comedy of character, expertly realized in performances that match any on the screen now or in the recent past…What continues to astonish is Mrs. Jhabvala’s magical way of putting herself in the service of another writer’s work, preserving as she distills. The film unfolds chronologically. No narrator is used. Yet the Forster voice is heard in virtually every scene, chatting, being discreetly sarcastic, sometimes sounding worried and, at other times, laughing with pleasure.”
– Vincent Canby, The New York Times