Written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Based on the novel by E.M. Forster
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson
U.K./Japan/U.S., 1992
In early 1900s England, a dying woman leaves her cherished family home, Howards End, to a new found friend. Upon her death, however, the woman's husband and family decide to destroy her will and keep the house for themselves. Through a series of meetings, the widowed husband eventually falls in love with and marries the woman the house was intended to go to.
It's hard to come up with a synopsis for this film because so much happens in it. I've left out all the stuff with the main character's free spirited sister, their lower-class friends who they try to help out and accidentally thwart, and several other affairs. It was hard for me to figure out what the movie is really about -- I wasn't sure if it was just one damn thing after another, or if the patriarch of the family had some devious scheme up his sleeve, or what. In any case, it didn't really matter in the end because I enjoyed the movie, anyway. I guess it's hard not to enjoy these Merchant Ivory productions, which seemed boring to me as a kid. I now know they're full of great performances, beautiful scenery, charming attention to period detail, lovely music and compelling plots. I just wish some literary expert could explain to me whether or not I'm missing something as far as the overall story is concerned. Maybe I'm not and I just think I am. Anyway, it was still good.
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