Howards End (film)
Encyclopedia
Howards End is a 1992 film
based upon the novel of the same title
by E. M. Forster
(published in 1910), a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England
. The film — produced by Merchant Ivory Productions
as their third adaptation of a Forster novel (following A Room with a View
in 1985 and Maurice
in 1987) — was the first film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics
. The screenplay was written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
, directed by James Ivory
and produced by Ismail Merchant
.
Howards End was entry as Official selection for Cannes International Film Festival and won 45th Anniversary Award. In 1993, the film received nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture
for Ismail Merchant
and Best Director for James Ivory
. The film won three awards, including for Best Art Direction
(Luciana Arrighi
and Ian Whittaker
). Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
earned her second Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Emma Thompson
won the Academy Award for Best Actress
.
; and the Basts are in the lower middle class. (Forster is clear that the novel is 'not concerned with the very poor.') The film asks the question 'Who will inherit England?' and answers it through the ownership of the house, Howards End, as it passes from person to person.
At the start of the film, the younger sister, Helen Schlegel (Helena Bonham Carter
), rashly becomes engaged to the younger Wilcox son, Paul. The next day both realise their mistake and break it off, but Helen has told her older sister, who tells her family. Her Aunt Juley (Prunella Scales
) arrives at Howards End and so makes the Wilcox family aware of the engagement. Later, when the Wilcox family takes a house near to the Schlegels in London, the sister, Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson
), feels compelled to visit because of the social embarrassment of the previous year. She befriends the mother, Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave
). Ruth is descended from English yeoman
stock and it is through her family that the Wilcoxes own Howards End, a house which she loves dearly and which is the symbol of rural England and English tradition. Over the course of a few months, the two women become close friends, and Ruth sees in Margaret a kindred spirit. Hearing that the lease on the Schlegels' London house is due to expire, and knowing she is soon to die, Ruth bequeaths Howards End to Margaret. This causes great consternation for the Wilcoxes, who refuse to believe that Ruth was in her "right mind" or intended her home to go to a relative stranger. The Wilcoxes burn the piece of paper that Ruth's bequest is written on, and decide to keep her will secret. Because he knows that he has prevented the Schlegels from finding a home in Howards End, Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins
) offers to help Margaret find a new place to live. As a result, the two become close and Henry proposes. Margaret accepts.
The Schlegels befriend a young, poor, yet intellectual clerk, Leonard Bast (Samuel West
). Wishing to improve his lot, they pass along advice from Henry that Leonard should leave his post because his company is heading for a crash. Leonard does so, but finds himself in a worse position and eventually unemployed.
The two plotlines converge at the marriage party of Evie Wilcox (daughter of Henry and Ruth). Helen has found the Basts starving and brings them to the party. Jacky Bast (Nicola Duffett
) becomes drunk; Margaret approaches her with Henry to find out who she is. Jacky recognises Henry and it becomes clear that years previously he had had an affair with her. Humiliated and suspicious, Henry breaks off the engagement, but that evening he and Margaret reconcile and she forgives his sexual impropriety. In accordance with Henry's wishes, she insists that Helen take the Basts away and refuses them help.
Because of this, the Schlegel sisters drift apart. Helen has a brief affair with Leonard Bast. She becomes pregnant, and leaves the country, telling none of her condition. When Helen returns to take her possessions, she asks if she can stay one night at Howards End. When Henry Wilcox finds out that Helen is pregnant, he insists that she cannot stay in the house, and that the man responsible must be found out and punished for dishonouring her.
Margaret and Henry argue bitterly about the different standards of sexual propriety applied to men and women, and Margaret says she is leaving Henry. Margaret, Leonard and the oldest Wilcox son Charles (James Wilby
) all make their way separately to Howards End and the final tragedy unfolds: Charles attacks and inadvertently kills Leonard, and is arrested. Henry's pride is shaken; his feelings break through at last, and he and Margaret become truly close.
Ultimately, Ruth Wilcox's wish is fulfilled: Henry leaves Howards End to her upon his death. Helen is reconciled with Margaret, and Helen will raise her son as heir. In both film and novel, the final ownership of Howards End is a symbol of new class relations in England: the wealth of the new industrialists (the Wilcoxes) married to the politically reforming vision of liberalism (the Schlegels) that will benefit the children of the lower classes (the Basts).
accepted the part of Henry Wilcox without reading the script. Phoebe Nicholls
, Joely Richardson
, Miranda Richardson
and Tilda Swinton
were all considered for the part of Margaret Schlegel before Emma Thompson
accepted the role. Jemma Redgrave
(Evie Wilcox), who plays the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave
(Ruth Wilcox), is her real-life niece. This is the only time they have shared the screen, although Jemma did act with her Aunt Vanessa on stage in Chekhov
's Three Sisters
in 1990, a production in which the third sister was played by Vanessa's sister Lynn Redgrave
.
The score was composed by Richard Robbins, with elements of the score based on Percy Grainger
's works "Bridal Lullaby" and "Mock Morris". The piano pieces were performed by the English concert pianist Martin Jones.
, 30 St. Mary Axe, London
. Soon after filming there it was bombed by the IRA
, razed, and the Swiss Re
building, or The Gherkin was erected on its site. Other scenes were shot in the quadrangle of the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway, University of London
, in Surrey
. http://www.rhul.ac.uk/For-Staff/on-campus/media/oct2001.html The "Howards End" house in the countryside is Peppard Cottage in Rotherfield Peppard
, Oxfordshire
, and the Wilcoxes's house is nearby. Some scenes were also shot at Brampton Bryan
in Herefordshire.
included it on his list of "Great Movies".
As of December 28, 2010, the film-critics aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes listed 91% positive reviews based on 34 reviews (31 "fresh", 3 "rotten").
According to the website Box Office Mojo the Total Gross of the film stands at $25,966,555.
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
based upon the novel of the same title
Howards End
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England. The main theme is the difficulties, troubles, and also the benefits of relationships between members of different social classes...
by E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
(published in 1910), a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The film — produced by Merchant Ivory Productions
Merchant Ivory Productions
Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Their films were for the most part produced by the former, directed by the latter, and scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, with the noted exception of a few films. The films were often...
as their third adaptation of a Forster novel (following A Room with a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
in 1985 and Maurice
Maurice (film)
Maurice is a 1987 British film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, following its main character Maurice Hall from his school days through university until he is united with his life partner.It was produced by Ismail...
in 1987) — was the first film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
. The screenplay was written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...
, directed by James Ivory
James Ivory (director)
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
and produced by Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
.
Howards End was entry as Official selection for Cannes International Film Festival and won 45th Anniversary Award. In 1993, the film received nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
for Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
and Best Director for James Ivory
James Ivory
James Ivory may refer to:*James Ivory *James Ivory...
. The film won three awards, including for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Luciana Arrighi
Luciana Arrighi
Luciana Arrighi is an Italian production designer. She won an Academy Award for the film Howards End in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
and Ian Whittaker
Ian Whittaker
Ian Whittaker is an American set decorator. He has won an Academy Award and has been nominated three more times in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
). Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...
earned her second Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
Plot
The story takes place in Edwardian England. Three families represent three social classes: the Wilcoxes are wealthy capitalists, the class that is displacing the aristocracy; the Schlegel sisters represent the enlightened bourgeoisieBourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
; and the Basts are in the lower middle class. (Forster is clear that the novel is 'not concerned with the very poor.') The film asks the question 'Who will inherit England?' and answers it through the ownership of the house, Howards End, as it passes from person to person.
At the start of the film, the younger sister, Helen Schlegel (Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
), rashly becomes engaged to the younger Wilcox son, Paul. The next day both realise their mistake and break it off, but Helen has told her older sister, who tells her family. Her Aunt Juley (Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
) arrives at Howards End and so makes the Wilcox family aware of the engagement. Later, when the Wilcox family takes a house near to the Schlegels in London, the sister, Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
), feels compelled to visit because of the social embarrassment of the previous year. She befriends the mother, Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
). Ruth is descended from English yeoman
Yeoman
Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
stock and it is through her family that the Wilcoxes own Howards End, a house which she loves dearly and which is the symbol of rural England and English tradition. Over the course of a few months, the two women become close friends, and Ruth sees in Margaret a kindred spirit. Hearing that the lease on the Schlegels' London house is due to expire, and knowing she is soon to die, Ruth bequeaths Howards End to Margaret. This causes great consternation for the Wilcoxes, who refuse to believe that Ruth was in her "right mind" or intended her home to go to a relative stranger. The Wilcoxes burn the piece of paper that Ruth's bequest is written on, and decide to keep her will secret. Because he knows that he has prevented the Schlegels from finding a home in Howards End, Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
) offers to help Margaret find a new place to live. As a result, the two become close and Henry proposes. Margaret accepts.
The Schlegels befriend a young, poor, yet intellectual clerk, Leonard Bast (Samuel West
Samuel West
Samuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
). Wishing to improve his lot, they pass along advice from Henry that Leonard should leave his post because his company is heading for a crash. Leonard does so, but finds himself in a worse position and eventually unemployed.
The two plotlines converge at the marriage party of Evie Wilcox (daughter of Henry and Ruth). Helen has found the Basts starving and brings them to the party. Jacky Bast (Nicola Duffett
Nicola Duffett
Nicola Duffett is an English actress.She remains best known for two long-running soap opera roles. After appearing as Debbie Bates in EastEnders from 1993 to 1995, she went into the role of boozy floozie Cat Matthews in Family Affairs...
) becomes drunk; Margaret approaches her with Henry to find out who she is. Jacky recognises Henry and it becomes clear that years previously he had had an affair with her. Humiliated and suspicious, Henry breaks off the engagement, but that evening he and Margaret reconcile and she forgives his sexual impropriety. In accordance with Henry's wishes, she insists that Helen take the Basts away and refuses them help.
Because of this, the Schlegel sisters drift apart. Helen has a brief affair with Leonard Bast. She becomes pregnant, and leaves the country, telling none of her condition. When Helen returns to take her possessions, she asks if she can stay one night at Howards End. When Henry Wilcox finds out that Helen is pregnant, he insists that she cannot stay in the house, and that the man responsible must be found out and punished for dishonouring her.
Margaret and Henry argue bitterly about the different standards of sexual propriety applied to men and women, and Margaret says she is leaving Henry. Margaret, Leonard and the oldest Wilcox son Charles (James Wilby
James Wilby
James Jonathon Wilby is an English film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father...
) all make their way separately to Howards End and the final tragedy unfolds: Charles attacks and inadvertently kills Leonard, and is arrested. Henry's pride is shaken; his feelings break through at last, and he and Margaret become truly close.
Ultimately, Ruth Wilcox's wish is fulfilled: Henry leaves Howards End to her upon his death. Helen is reconciled with Margaret, and Helen will raise her son as heir. In both film and novel, the final ownership of Howards End is a symbol of new class relations in England: the wealth of the new industrialists (the Wilcoxes) married to the politically reforming vision of liberalism (the Schlegels) that will benefit the children of the lower classes (the Basts).
Cast
- Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
... Ruth Wilcox - Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
... Helen Schlegel - Joseph BennettJoseph A. BennettJoseph A. Bennett is an English actor.Bennett was born in 1968 in London, England. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He was one of two actors who portrayed T. E. Lawrence in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles...
... Paul Wilcox - Emma ThompsonEmma ThompsonEmma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
... Margaret Schlegel - Prunella ScalesPrunella ScalesPrunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
... Aunt Juley - Adrian Ross Magenty ... Tibby Schlegel
- Jo KendallJo KendallJo Kendall is a British actress.She played Desdemona in a production of Othello at the A.D.C. Theatre, Cambridge in 1962.In August 1963 she appeared in the West End in London, New Zealand and Broadway, in the Cambridge University revue Cambridge Circus directed by Humphrey Barclay, alongside Graham...
... Annie - Anthony HopkinsAnthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
... Henry Wilcox - James WilbyJames WilbyJames Jonathon Wilby is an English film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father...
... Charles Wilcox - Jemma RedgraveJemma RedgraveJemma Redgrave is a fourth-generation English actress of the Redgrave family.-Early life/family:Born in London as Jemima Rebecca Redgrave, she is the daughter of the late actor Corin Redgrave and his first wife, the late Deirdre Hamilton-Hill, a former fashion model. They divorced when Jemma was...
... Evie Wilcox - Ian Latimer ... Stationmaster
- Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
... Leonard Bast - Simon CallowSimon CallowSimon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
... Music and Meaning Lecturer (cameo) - Mary NashMary Nash-Early life:Nash was born on August 15, 1884 in Troy, New York, to parents Philip Nash, who worked for B. F. Keith Vaudeville Circuit, and Ellen Frances MacNamara. She was educated at the Convent of St. Anne in Montreal and trained for acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts...
... Pianist - Siegbert Prawer ... Man Asking a Question
- Susie Lindeman ... Dolly Wilcox
- Nicola DuffettNicola DuffettNicola Duffett is an English actress.She remains best known for two long-running soap opera roles. After appearing as Debbie Bates in EastEnders from 1993 to 1995, she went into the role of boozy floozie Cat Matthews in Family Affairs...
... Jacky Bast - Mark TandyMark TandyMark Tandy is a film and television actor, born 8 February 1957 in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland.- Selected film and television roles :*The Unsinkable Titanic - J...
, Andrew St. Clair, Anne LambtonAnne LambtonThe Lady Anne Mary Gabrielle Lambton is a British actress.Lambton is a younger daughter of Antony Lambton and his wife Bindy née Blew-Jones. Her older sister is Lucinda Lambton, the British writer, photographer and broadcaster...
, Emma Godfrey, Duncan Brown, Iain Kelly ... Luncheon Guests - Atalanta White ... Maid at Howards End
- Gerald Paris ... Porphyrion Supervisor
- Allie ByrneAllie ByrneAllie Byrne is a British stage, film and television actress.Her first major television role was in the Agatha Christie's Poirot adaptation of The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1990. She has since appeared in episodes of The Bill, Goodnight Sweetheart, Men Behaving Badly, A Touch of Frost and Van...
, Sally GeogheganSally GeogheganSally Geoghegan is an English actress. She is best known for playing teacher Jayne Carver in the long-running CBBC school drama Grange Hill, between 1995-2002...
, Paula Stockbridge, Bridget Duvall, Lucy Freeman, Harriet Stewart, Tina Leslie ... Blue-stockings - Mark Payton ... Percy Cahill
- David Delaney ... Simpson's Carver
- Mary McWilliams ... Wilcox Baby
- Barbara Hicks ... Miss Avery
- Rodney Rymell ... Chauffeur
- Luke Parry ... Tom, the Farmer's Boy
- Antony Gilding ... Bank Supervisor
- Peter CellierPeter CellierPeter Cellier is an English actor who has appeared in film, stage and television. He is perhaps best known for his role as Sir Frank Gordon in Yes Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister in the 1980s.-Biography:...
... Colonel Fussell - Crispin Bonham CarterCrispin Bonham-CarterCrispin Bonham-Carter is an English actor and theatre director.Bonham-Carter is a distant cousin of Helena Bonham Carter. He is the son of Peter Bonham-Carter and Clodagh Greenwood. Educated at Glenalmond College, he graduated from the University of St Andrews, Scotland with a degree in classics...
... Albert Fussell - Patricia LawrencePatricia LawrencePatricia Lawrence was an English actress.She may have been best-known for playing the formidable Sister Ulrica, a Dutch prisoner of war in the BBC television drama Tenko.-Credits:Other TV credits include:* Son of Man * Softly, Softly* Van der...
, Margery MasonMargery MasonMargery E. Mason is an English actress and director. She was the Artistic Director of the Repertory Theatre in Bangor, Northern Ireland in the 1960s....
... Wedding Guests - Jim BowdenJim Bowden-Early life and career:Bowden was born in Boston, MA and raised in Weston, Massachusetts and Boothbay Harbor, ME. He graduated from Rollins College in 1983 with a B.A. degree in Communications and Business Administration. He was the Sports Director at the College radio station as well doing the...
... Martlett - Alan JamesAlan JamesAlan James was an American film director and screenwriter. He directed 79 films between 1916 and 1943...
... Porphyrion Chief Clerk - Jocelyn Cobb ... Telegraph Operator
- Peter DarlingPeter DarlingPeter Darling is an English dancer and choreographer best known for his award-winning work in Billy Elliot the Musical.-External links:...
... Doctor - Terence Sach ... Deliveryman
- Brian Lipson ... Police Inspector
- Barr Heckstall-Smith ... Helen's Child
Casting
Anthony HopkinsAnthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
accepted the part of Henry Wilcox without reading the script. Phoebe Nicholls
Phoebe Nicholls
Phoebe Nicholls is an English film, television, and stage actor. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and as the mother of John Merrick in The Elephant Man....
, Joely Richardson
Joely Richardson
Joely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
, Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
and Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
were all considered for the part of Margaret Schlegel before Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
accepted the role. Jemma Redgrave
Jemma Redgrave
Jemma Redgrave is a fourth-generation English actress of the Redgrave family.-Early life/family:Born in London as Jemima Rebecca Redgrave, she is the daughter of the late actor Corin Redgrave and his first wife, the late Deirdre Hamilton-Hill, a former fashion model. They divorced when Jemma was...
(Evie Wilcox), who plays the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
(Ruth Wilcox), is her real-life niece. This is the only time they have shared the screen, although Jemma did act with her Aunt Vanessa on stage in Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
in 1990, a production in which the third sister was played by Vanessa's sister Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
.
Music
- "Bridal Lullaby" by Percy GraingerPercy GraingerGeorge Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
Courtesy of Bardie Edition - "Mock Morris" by Percy Grainger
Courtesy of Schott & Co., Ltd. - "La Dance" (1906) by André DerainAndré DerainAndré Derain was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.-Early years:...
(c) 1992 Artist Rights Socitey, New York/ADAGP
Courtesy of the Fridart Foundation. - "5th SymphonySymphony No. 5 (Beethoven)The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...
" by Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
(uncredited)
The score was composed by Richard Robbins, with elements of the score based on Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
's works "Bridal Lullaby" and "Mock Morris". The piano pieces were performed by the English concert pianist Martin Jones.
Filming locations
Part of the film was shot at the Baltic ExchangeBaltic Exchange
The Baltic Exchange is the world's only independent source of maritime market information for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts...
, 30 St. Mary Axe, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Soon after filming there it was bombed by the IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
, razed, and the Swiss Re
Swiss Re
Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd , generally known as Swiss Re, is a Swiss reinsurance company. It is the world’s second-largest reinsurer, after having acquired GE Insurance Solutions. The company has its headquarters in Zurich...
building, or The Gherkin was erected on its site. Other scenes were shot in the quadrangle of the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
, in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. http://www.rhul.ac.uk/For-Staff/on-campus/media/oct2001.html The "Howards End" house in the countryside is Peppard Cottage in Rotherfield Peppard
Rotherfield Peppard
Rotherfield Peppard is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is just over west of Henley-on-Thames, about north of Reading, Berkshire and just over west of the village of Rotherfield Greys.-History:Rotherfield derives from the Old English redrefeld meaning...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and the Wilcoxes's house is nearby. Some scenes were also shot at Brampton Bryan
Brampton Bryan
Brampton Bryan is a small village and civil parish situated in north Herefordshire, England close to the Shropshire and Welsh borders.Brampton Bryan lies mid-way between Leintwardine and Knighton on the A4113 road. The village has had a complex history and its buildings reflect this...
in Herefordshire.
Reception
The film received massive critical acclaim. On June 5, 2005, Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
included it on his list of "Great Movies".
As of December 28, 2010, the film-critics aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes listed 91% positive reviews based on 34 reviews (31 "fresh", 3 "rotten").
According to the website Box Office Mojo the Total Gross of the film stands at $25,966,555.
Awards
- 1992 : Cannes Film Festival1992 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Gérard Depardieu *John Boorman *Carlo Di Palma *Jamie Lee Curtis *Joële Van Effenterre *Lester James Peries *Nana Djordjadze *Pedro Almodóvar *René Cleitman...
45th Anniversary Prize (James Ivory) - 1992 : New York Film Critics' Circle - Best Actress (Emma Thompson)
- 1992 : Los Angeles Film Critics' Association - Best Actress (Emma Thompson)
- 1992 : National Board of Review - Best Actress (Emma Thompson)
- 1992 : Southeastern Film Critics AssociationSoutheastern Film Critics AssociationThe Southeastern Film Critics Association is an organization of film reviewers from publications based in the Southeastern United States....
- Best Actress (Emma Thompson) - 1993 : Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Emma Thompson) - Best Adapted Screenplay) (Ruth Prawer JhabvalaRuth Prawer JhabvalaRuth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...
) - Best Art DirectionAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Luciana ArrighiLuciana ArrighiLuciana Arrighi is an Italian production designer. She won an Academy Award for the film Howards End in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
, Ian WhittakerIan WhittakerIan Whittaker is an American set decorator. He has won an Academy Award and has been nominated three more times in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
)
- Best Actress
- 1993 : BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBest Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
(Emma Thompson) - 1993 : BAFTA Award for Best FilmBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
(Ismail Merchant, James Ivory) - 1993 : Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
(Emma Thompson) - 1993 : Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (Emma Thompson)
- 1993 : Evening Standard British Film AwardsEvening Standard British Film AwardsThe Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...
- Best Actress (Emma Thompson)
- Best Film (James Ivory)
- 1993 : Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards - (Emma Thompson)
- 1993 : London Critics Circle Film Awards - (British Film of the Year)
Nominated
- 1993 Academy Awards:
- Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(Ismail MerchantIsmail MerchantIsmail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
) - DirectingAcademy Award for DirectingThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
(James IvoryJames Ivory (director)James Francis Ivory is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
) - Best Supporting ActressAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Vanessa RedgraveVanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
) - Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
(Tony Pierce-RobertsTony Pierce-RobertsTony Pierce-Roberts BSC is a British cinematographer.-Filmography:*Home of the Brave *Broadway dans la tête *Doom *Separate Lies *De-Lovely *Underworld ...
) - Costume DesignAcademy Award for Costume DesignThe Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
(Jenny BeavanJenny BeavanJenny Beavan is a British costume designer. Beavan has won an Academy Award and has been nominated eight times, most recently for The King's Speech...
, John Bright) - Original Music ScoreAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(Richard Robbins)
- Best Picture
- 1993 British Academy Film AwardsBritish Academy Film AwardsThe British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
:- Best Direction (James Ivory)
- Best Screenplay - Adapted (Ruth Prawer JhabvalaRuth Prawer JhabvalaRuth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...
) - Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
) - Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
) - Best Cinematography (Tony Pierce-Roberts)
- Best Production Design (Luciana Arrighi)
- Best Costume Design (Jenny Beavan, John Bright)
- Best Editing (Andrew Marcus)
- Best Make-Up Artist (Christine Beveridge)
- 1993 Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s:- Best Director - Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureThis page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
(James Ivory) - Best Motion Picture - DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - DramaThis page lists the winners and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, since its institution in 1951. The organizer, Hollywood Foreign Press Association , is an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications...
- Best ScreenplayGolden Globe Award for Best ScreenplayThe Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...
(Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
- Best Director - Motion Picture
- 1993 César Award for Best Foreign FilmCésar Award for Best Foreign FilmThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Foreign Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(James Ivory) - 1992 Cannes Film Festival1992 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Gérard Depardieu *John Boorman *Carlo Di Palma *Jamie Lee Curtis *Joële Van Effenterre *Lester James Peries *Nana Djordjadze *Pedro Almodóvar *René Cleitman...
(Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
)