Howards End
When Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) receives a letter from her younger sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter) advising that she's become engaged to Paul Wilcox (Joseph Bennett), it is quickly followed by a telegram announcing its break. Helen returns to their home in London, Wickam Place, drawing another young man, Leonard Bast (Samuel West, "Van Helsing"), to their home when she mistakenly takes his umbrella leaving a music lecture, tying together the fortunes of three families and the country house known as "Howards End."
Laura's Review: A
Merchant Ivory hit its peak in 1992 and 1993 with two films starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, the former owning 1993's "The Remains of the Day," the latter the focal character in "Howards End's" ensemble. Cohen Media has just released a 4K UHD Blu-ray of a 4K restoration of the first film and it looks gorgeous, its colors natural, its transfer sharp.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala ("The Remains of the Day") adapts the E.M. Forster novel that rivals Jane Austen with its themes of class, gender roles, entitlement and art versus commerce, throwing in some scandal for good measure. There is also a sense of sisterhood, not only concerning the Schlegel sisters, but between Margaret and Howards Ends' matriarch, Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave), who poor health removes her from the film early, but whose spirit remains throughout.
We are introduced to the titular house as Ruth traverses its exterior, her love for it evident, in a sequence which will be repeated later when Margaret first visits the home well after Ruth's passing (she will even be mistaken for Ruth by Ruth's former servant). After Helen's awkward entanglement with the younger Wilcox son, her sister will become alarmed when the family rents a London home directly across from Wickam Place to celebrate the marriage of their older son, Charles (James Wilby, "Maurice"), sending Helen off to Hamburg. But Margaret surprises us, paying the Wilcoxes a visit when only Ruth remains at home, the two having had a prior meeting where they clearly connected. Ruth is clearly lifted up by Margaret's friendship, inviting her to visit Howards End, but just as the two are set to depart at the train station, Ruth's husband Henry (Anthony Hopkins) and their daughter Evie (Jemma Redgrave, "Love & Friendship") arrive unexpectedly early. Margaret will not see Ruth again, nor will she know that the woman willed Howards End to her, Henry, Charles and Evie deciding to burn the undated and unsigned note she'd written with the aid of her servant.
The film's other main conflict will involve the Schlegels interest in Leonard Bast, a lowly clerk they attempt to help by enlisting Henry's advice, advice which turns out to be quite wrong, plunging the young man and the woman he saved from a life of prostitution, Jacky (Nicola Duffett), into dire straits. Helen, incensed by what has happened, brings the two to Evie's wedding for a confrontation which Margaret, now engaged to Henry, attempts to avert, only for another, embarrassing, connection to be made public. And Helen's passions will bring about yet another scandal.
The ensemble is extraordinary, Emma Thompson the pragmatic modern woman, her sister her passionate counterpart. If at first Hopkins seems an insufferable prig, we warm to the character once humbled, the actor signifying shame, not once, but twice holding his hand palm outward in front of his face, his assimilation into Ruth's cherished house signaling a man changed. Redgrave evokes a bygone era cloaked in melancholy, her sensibilities not shared by Margaret but not her family, Wilby and the younger Redgrave clearly cut from their father's cloth. Samuel West plays subdued desperation and social awkwardness while Duffett hangs on tightly to the man whose good will towards her is waning. The cast also includes 'Fawlty Towers'' Prunella Scales as the Schlegels' Aunt Juley with comic undertones provided by Adrian Ross Magenty as the Schlegels' brother Tibby and Susie Lindeman as Charlie's squeaky wife Dolly, a woman not quite in her element (and the one who will spill the beans in the film's closing moments).
The production team who would go on to make "The Remains of the Day" with five actors from this film, producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts, production designer Luciana Arrighi, costumer designer Jenny Beavan and composer Richard Robbins, are at the top of their game here, using architecture, landscape and color to emphasize Forster's themes. We see the traditional woman of the time contrasted with modern thinking in the friendship between Ruth and Margaret, something also apparent in their costuming. Henry Wilcox's material wealth is signified by the 40 foot ceilings of his Mayfair hall, a stark difference with the low ceilings of the country home both of his wives will love. Stunning mise on scene reflects seasonal change with springtime pastels and autumnal burgundies as various configurations of the cast are assembled indoors and out. "Howards End" is a must for film lovers and arrives just in time for holiday gift giving.
Blu-ray Extras:
In addition to the 4K UHD disc, the package contains a Blu-ray disc of the movie with audio commentary by film critics Wade Major and Lael Lowenstein. A second Blu-ray disc holds all of the film's bonus features and a series of trailers for other Cohen Media releases, like a Claude Chabrol trilogy. 'Returning to Howards End" is an illuminating discussion between director James Ivory and Laurence Kardish, seen in a casual, close-up outdoor conversation. They discuss the differences between E.M.Forster's book and the movie in which we learn Ivory had to jettison a favorite scene because it was 'impossible to show a car hitting a dog,' and how Ruth Prawer Jhabvala convinced him to make Bast a more sympathetic character, arguing that Forster would not have had experience with people in genteel poverty. Ivory reveals that he personally cast Emma Thompson after having seen many actresses for the role, including Tilda Swinton. They also discuss how Merchant Ivory was being asked to make "Passage to India," but Ivory demurred as Satyajit Ray was interested and they had just made a film about the British Raj, "Heat and Dust." Ivory also notes that "Howards End" was not only shot in 70 mm, but using Kodak color film instead of their usual Fuji for punchier color. He believes that all the original 70 mm prints have disappeared although 'Marty Scorsese might have one.'
An interview with Ivory and Vanessa Redgrave during the 2016 Cannes film festival, where "Howards End" was shown in its classics section, is less revelatory, although Redgrave does disclose how difficult she found working with her father. 'The Design of Howards End' features production designer Luciana Arrighi discussing her methods and talking about locations, such as the Fortnum & Mason's Christmas shopping scene and the Schlegels' Wickam Place home in London, which has since been torn down. We see her illustration of an erotic dream sequence of Bast's featuring Helen running down a spiral staircase in St. Paul's, a scene which was shot but edited out of the film, leaving us wishing it was included here. Costume designer Jenny Beavan mostly talks about sourcing fabrics correct for the period and how Edwardian undergarments helped the actresses with their performances. Other extras include a NY Film Festival Q&A with Ivory, a 1992 behind the scenes featurette, 'Building Howards End,' 'James Ivory remembers Ismail Merchant,' and the original 1992 and 2016 rerelease trailers.
Robin's Review: A-
Cohen Media's 4K UHD Blu-ray release of the 4K restoration of "Howards End" is available on 11/18/25.
