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Howards End

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02:26

Howards End

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• Drama
• Romance

• 1992
• James Ivory
• 136 mins
• PG

Summary

Period drama adapted from EM Forster's novel, starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter. Helen Schlegel, who lives in London with her sister Margaret and brother Tibby, is invited to stay at Howards End, the country home of the affluent Wilcox family whom she has recently met. She falls in love with their younger son Paul, but it is the friendship that later develops between Margaret and the ailing Mrs Wilcox which has far-reaching consequences for both families.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Tom Hutchinson

This adaptation of EM Forster's novel has an elegance that never hides grim insights into the upper middle classes. Matriarchal Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave) dies after writing a letter bequeathing her country home, Howards End, to new friend Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson). But the note is destroyed by the Wilcox family of snobs-in-residence, whose head (Anthony Hopkins) then falls in love with Margaret. Meanwhile, the low expectations of the clerking classes are exemplified by a meek Leonard Bast (Samuel West), whose affair with Margaret's sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter) leads to tragedy. From Bast's dank lodgings to Howards End's cosy rurality - into which the Schlegel sisters bring an energy the place has not known before - the perfect period detail is not an end in itself, but allows Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson to create extraordinarily convincing portraits. One of the finest conversions of a novel to cinema, this is a credit to the team of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

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7.3/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameHenry WilcoxAnthony HopkinsMargaret SchlegelEmma ThompsonHelen SchlegelHelena Bonham CarterRuth WilcoxVanessa RedgraveCharles WilcoxJames WilbyLeonard BastSamuel WestAunt JuleyPrunella ScalesPaul WilcoxJoseph BennettTibby SchlegelAdrian Ross MagentyAnnieJo KendallEvie WilcoxJemma RedgraveStation masterIan LatimerPianistMary NashDolly WilcoxSusie LindemanJacky BastNicola Duffett

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Crew

rolenameDirectorJames Ivory

Details

Theatrical distributor

BFI Films

Released on

2017-07-28

Languages

English | German

Available on

video and DVD

Formats

Colour

News & features about Howards End

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  Was the music in Howards End too loud?
  
  BBC1's new period drama has drawn criticism for its “screeching” and “inane” music

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  Howards End episode 3 recap: Tragedy looms, secrets are revealed and Leonard Bast’s suffering continues
  
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  Howards End episode 2 review: Leonard Bast is on the brink of disaster as Margaret falls for the charms of Mr Wilcox
  
  Matthew Macfadyen is emerging as the real star of this excellent drama which continues to deftly expose the cruelty behind the respectable facade of Edwardian England, says Ben Dowell

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