‘Howards End‘, James Ivory‘s 1992 film, opens with a scene that takes place in nature. We see, filmed from behind, a woman running. She is wearing a long dress, which clearly hinders her movements. Clothes get dirty from grass and rain-soaked ground. The scene is symbolic of one of the film’s themes – the status of women in the first decade of the 20th century -, a period that takes its name in England after that of King Edward VII, the son of Queen Victoria, who had waited many years to inherit the throne from the long-lived Queen. Social and political conflicts were building up and simmering like lava from a volcano about to erupt. Rigid laws and conventions covered internal social conflicts, just as the force of the imperial army and the colonial bureaucracy tried to contain external ones. The eruption that was to come would be called the Great War or the First World War. The world that precedes it is excellently described in the novels of E.M. Foster and in the films made by director James Ivory and his producer and partner Ismail Merchant. They are complex and lavishly shot films that bring back into focus, reconstruct and reinterpret the conflicts and problems of a world that is seemingly receding into history, but which continues to influence the present.
Representatives of four social classes find themselves engaged in a conflict in the middle of which is the mansion Howards End, located in a village near London. The building surrounded by a park with abundant and unsettling vegetation is the historical legacy of Ruth’s old British noble family, brought into the Willcox family through her marriage to Henry. He is the type of the enterprising but unscrupulous capitalist, for whom social conventions hide moral corruption, and who despises all who are not like him. His sons and daughter seem to have inherited his character and ideas. When Ruth befriends Margaret Schlegel, a beautiful and intelligent young woman but in danger of passing marriageable age, from a middle-class family of German origin, and decides, on her deathbed, to leave the mansion as inheritance, the Willcox family does not hesitate to resort to fraud by destroying the handwritten will. Margaret along with her sister Helen have different moral values than the Willcoxes, but good intentions don’t always pay off. Attempts to help the young and impoverished Leonard Bast, a dreamer struggling in capitalist London, cause more harm than good.
Key scenes of the film take place at or are related to Howards End. In the dramatic structure of the story, the mansion is a symbol. For some of the characters in the story it is just a property. These disputes reminded me of the novels of John Galsworthy which were set in a nearer period, and in which even love or wives were regarded as objects of property. The differences in conception between generations and social classes are evident when we look at how the characters relate to women’s rights – the political ones, but also the one to decide their destinies, to choose their suitable partners. Another central theme of the film is the communication between the characters. All of them are very voluble, they entertain sometimes sparkling dialogues, but they don’t always understand each other. For Henry Willcox, words hide rather than express, and even when he wants to express his possible affection and make a marriage proposal he does not know how to choose the right words. Margaret Schlegel, on the contrary, is intelligent and cultured, but perhaps precisely her fine education is at excess when dealing with people whose moral values do not correspond. Fate decides in the end and its blows are far from being just rhetorical.
‘Howards End‘ gathers a formidable team of actors who enjoy consistent roles. For Emma Thompson, the role of Margaret meant several well-deserved awards and confirmation of her status as an international star. Helena Bonham Carter is no less impressive in my opinion as Helen. Old lady Ruth is played with nobility and passion by Vanessa Redgrave, and the Christmas shopping scene with Emma Thompson is a classic. For Anthony Hopkins, the role of Henry Willcox is not the most visible of his career or of that period. He melts into the character and doesn’t try to shock. Tony Pierce-Roberts‘ cinematography is excellent, both when filming at Howards End with the nature and countryside surrounding the mansion, and when he accurately recreates London in the first decade of the 20th century. ‘Howards End‘ remains a delight for fans of solid and intelligent movies.