Review of Howards End (1992) by Daniel K — 11 Aug 2007

It is magic with light and sound. Merchant, Ivory, and Jhabvala's crowning achievement. I can't express how amazing it is time and time again. Masterful use of slow motion (walk to the jail), the implacable train marching on afterwards, Beethoven's Fifth merging with the sound of the train in the dingy flat, jump cuts that seem to arise out of necessity in a faithful period adaptation of EM Forster, numerous inventive fades to black within scenes, perfect pacing throughout, painterly compositions, spot-on edits, beautiful tracks and pans, a score reminiscent of Phillip Glass at his best (which is very good indeed), perfect casting from top to bottom (Hopkins in particular), and a house and time period portrayed in such a way that one can think of nothing better than to be living there at that time.

This remarkable team has truly outdone themselves. It may sound like gushing, but in fact it is only rational calculation of the quality of the work.