Howards End (film)

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Howards End

Movie poster with Samuel West and Helena Bonham-Carter
Directed by James Ivory
Produced by Ismail Merchant
Written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (based on the novel by E. M. Forster)
Starring Emma Thompson
Helena Bonham Carter
Anthony Hopkins
Vanessa Redgrave
Prunella Scales
Music by Richard Robbins
Percy Grainger (opening and end title)
Cinematography Tony Pierce-Roberts
Editing by Andrew Marcus
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s) December 1991 (New York Premiere)
March 13, 1992 (New York)
Running time 140 min.
Language English
Budget $ 8million (estimated)
IMDb profile

Howards End is a 1991 (released in 1992) film adaptation of E.M. Forster's 1910 novel Howards End, a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-20th-century England. The film was produced by Merchant Ivory Productions, their third adaptation of a Forster novel (A Room with a View in 1985, Maurice in 1987). The screenplay was written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant.

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Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The plot takes place in England at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is about three families who represent three social classes: the Wilcoxes, who are rich Victorian capitalists and basically consider themselves as aristocrats; the Schlegel sisters, who represent the enlightened bourgeois class; and the Basts who are the working class, fighting to survive. The Schlegel sisters try to help the poor Basts and cajole the Wilcoxes to lower their prejudices.

The two sisters frequently encounter the Wilcoxes. The younger sister, Helen (Helena Bonham Carter), is rejected by the younger Wilcox son, Paul. The older sister, Margaret (Emma Thompson), befriends the mother, Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave). Ruth's most prized personal possession is her ancestral home, Howards End. She believes that Margaret could live there, as she feels a kindred connection with her. Hearing that the Schlegels are to be turned out of their apartment when their lease ends, and possibly sensing her death due to lingering illness, Ruth bequeaths Howards End to Margaret, believing that it might be in good hands with her. This causes great consternation with the Wilcoxes, who refuse to believe that Ruth was in her "right mind" or actually intended for her home to go to someone she barely know. The Wilcoxes burn Ruth's will without letting Margaret know of her inheritance. However, over time, Margaret becomes friends with the widower Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins), eventually marries him, even after she discovers that he had had an affair with Leonard Bast's wife ten years earlier.

Because of Margaret's marriage into the Wilcoxes, the Schlegel sisters drift apart. An increasingly militant and impulsive Helen tries to help young Leonard Bast, but it all goes terribly wrong; he loses his position and disappears. Helen inexplicably flees to Germany, where her father's family is from, and for a time tries to elude her worried siblings. After several months, she comes back for her possessions, intending to move to Germany for good. Meanwhile, Henry's children conspire to keep Margaret from taking possession of Howards End, culminating in a chain of events and tragedy as Leonard Bast unexpectedly reappears to find Helen, who is carrying his child. Ultimately, Ruth Wilcox's original wish is fulfilled: Helen is eventually reconciled with Margaret and Henry, and she raises her son at Howards End as its heir.


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A television adaptation of the novel was broadcast in 1970 with Leo Genn and Glenda Jackson.

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