Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins star in this Academy Award-winning adaptation of the novel by E.M. Forster. In 1910, sisters Helen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and Margaret Schlegel (Thompson) live in London with their brother, but the lease on their flat is about to expire. Margaret has recently befriended the ailing Mrs Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave) who decides to bequeath her house, Howards End, to her. However, upon Mrs Wilcox’s death her family close ranks, refusing to inform Margaret of her inheritance. When the widowed Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) begins to take a romantic interest in Margaret however, the ensuing relationship leads to tragedy.
Howards End is E M Forster’s beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain–and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will–which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk.
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