Flawless on every artistic level, Merchant Ivory’s intercontinental venture with Columbia Pictures, Howards End (1992) is a sublime investigation of the inward malignancy eating away at Edwardian England's social classes. Based on E.M Forester’s novel, the screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala takes a more critical view of that esthetic crux and seismic shift that has begun to erode the aristocracy into a relic of its former self.Forester had based some of the novel on his own youthful reflections and upbringing on a rural farm near Rooks Nest in Hertfordshire. In essence, the estate Howards End is the catalyst for an all out struggle of wills between the social classes. The question is pointedly proposed: Who will inherit this grand country house (and by extension, the future of England)?
Director James Ivory initially wanted to shoot at Rooks Nest. Instead he settled on Peppard Cottage, redressed to luminous rural perfection by Production Designer Luciana Arrighi with lush wild bowers of wisteria.
It is a telling bit of foreshadowing about England's future that the film's central narrative concerns the middle class Schlegel sisters, Helen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and Margaret (Emma Thompson). The two are a pair of free thinkers who entertain notions of romantic love and polite conversation at their flat, Wickham Place in London. Helen has fallen in love with Paul (Joseph Bennett) the youngest son of an affluent English family - the Wilcoxes.
However, this short lived summer romance leads to even greater complications for the family’s patriarch, Henry (Anthony Hopkins) when first wife, Ruth (Vanessa Redgrave) succumbs to illness.Since her chance meeting with Margaret some years before, Ruth believes that her own family estate, Howards End, would be better served by, and of immense benefit to, the Schlegel sisters rather than made simply another appendage of her husband’s sprawling estate.
In truth, the Wilcoxes have never much cared for the property. But their greed and resentment toward the Schlegels is rekindled after Ruth writes a request to Henry on her death bed to give up the property to Margaret and her sister. Instead, Henry vows to keep Howards End, a decision that quietly erodes his confidence with considerable guilt. To compensate for this insecurity, Henry offers to act as an agent to find the Schlegels another place to live.
Meanwhile, in another part of London, impoverished bank teller, Leonard Bast (Samuel West) attends a lecture at Albert Hall on ‘music and meaning’ where he accidentally comes into contact with Helen. The two become platonic friends; an association that leads to a brief series of visits to the Schlegel home and some temporary unpleasantness between Helen and Leonard’s wife, Jacky (Nicola Duffett) - a reformed prostitute.
Henry soon discovers that Margaret is a lady of quality and someone he quite easily becomes smitten with, much to the chagrin and jealousy of his daughter, Evie (Jemma Redgrave) and boorishly authoritative son, Charles (James Wilby).
To everyone’s surprise, Henry proposes marriage. Margaret accepts - then comes to understand Henry’s innate mistrust of the lower classes – especially when it is revealed that he once had an affair with Mrs. Bast. Appalled by Margaret’s seeming lack of compassion toward Leonard and Jacky since her marriage to Henry, Helen retreats into an embittered conflict with the family. This eventually gives way to a passionate affair with Leonard.
Helen’s resulting pregnancy becomes the catalyst for a misguided ‘call to honor’ by Henry’s son, Charles – who seizes the opportunity to inflict his revenge on Leonard by striking him with the blunt edge of an old sword. Tragically, this confrontation turns fatal, with Leonard suffering a heart attack. He is crushed beneath a bookshelf inside Howards End.
Charles goes to prison for Leonard’s murder. Henry – with his family and rigid moral code built on the illusion that wealth retains power utterly in ruins – confesses to Margaret the truth about his late Ruth’s bequeathing Howards End to her and Helen. The story ends with Margaret inheriting the Wilcox wealth and the cottage, sounding the death knell for England’s fading social hierarchy.
In less capable hands, such melodramatic fare could so easily have degenerated into pure soap opera beneath the waistcoats and top hats. Yet, under the nimble direction of James Ivory, Howards End emerges as sublime paradox where culture and class do not necessary meet or even go hand in glove so much as they disastrously intersect. In the final analysis, the film is a crossroads where money is rarely the great leveler to truth.
Criterion’s Blu-Ray bests its SD DVD offering of a few years back which is saying quite a lot, considering how visually stunning that transfer had been. But in 1080p the new Blu-Ray's crystal clear image is, in a word, gorgeous; a luxurious picture with stunning clarity; bold, rich and vibrant colors; solid deep blacks, very clean whites and fine detail prevalent throughout. One will note that during the opening credit sequence, age related artifacts have been corrected. Audio is 5.1 Dolby Digital and quite powerful with a deep sonic spread across all five channels.Extras include the previously issued ‘Designing Howards End’ and ‘The Wandering Company’ - both in HD, as well as a vintage featurette and a very intimate homage to the late Ismail Merchant by director James Ivory.
Bottom line: highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
5+
EXTRAS
2.5
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