Review of Howards End (1992) by Jennifer S — 13 Feb 2011

Man, I love E.M. Forster. His novels are so modern and funny and humanistic. Howards End is based on Forster's novel of class consciousness. It concerns three families: the rich Wilcoxes, the middle class/slightly bohemian Schlegels, and the impoverished Basts. Howards End is a country home belonging to the Wilcox matriarch, Ruth, who wills the estate to her friend, Margaret Schlegel, on her death bed. Thinking he's doing what's best for his family, Ruth's husband, Henry, burns this part of the will and Margaret never finds out she was to have Howards End.

Even after Ruth's death, the Wilcoxes, Schlegels, and Basts are intricately linked by friendship, romantic love, and misunderstandings. Howards End becomes a symbol for the Wilcox's greed. Henry keeps the house empty and allows no one to spend the night, let alone live in it. It is both a mausoleum in honor of his dead wife, and a physical manifestation of his refusal to be generous. But as Henry finds himself falling in love with Margaret Schlegel, his begins to soften.

Meanwhile, the younger Schlegel sister, Helen, finds herself compelled to help poor Leonard Bast and, by extension, his crude, cockney wife. She attempts to get Mr. Wilcox to give Leonard a job at his company, but when Mr. Wilcox realizes that Leonard's wife is his former lover, he turns the Basts away.

Howards End, like the other films based on Forster's novels, are beautiful to look at and have a beautiful message to go along with them. The character Margaret Schlegel, played wonderfully by Emma Thompson, encapsulates Forster's themes of connection, kindness, and humanity. She is the grounded center than hold the greedy and duplicitous Wilcoxes, the flightly younger Schlegel sister, and the desperate Basts together. And although things do not end fairly for all the characters, Forster's message of human interconnectedness emerges as strongly as ever.