The Film
“Costume drama” is a term that can seem pejorative, especially in an age where period films are often cranked out with little regard for much besides the elegant attire that defined the era. There are hoop skirts and corsets, but other than these wholly artificial structures, there is little of substance or interest. Maybe the costumes are supposed to entrance the audience to a place where neither story nor interesting characters are a consideration (look no further than the recent filmography of Keira Knightley).
But then there’s 1992’s Howards End, a vibrant and vivacious reminder that the costumes in a period drama can be a finely tuned detail rather than the main attraction. There is nothing stiff or artificial about Howards End, one of the most successful collaborations between producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, thanks both to some sumptuously lush photography and a first-rate cast that includes the delightful Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar for her role.
Based on the novel by E.M. Forster, Howards End gets the Blu-ray treatment from The Criterion Collection by virtue of triumphing in an online poll on Amazon.com, which allowed users to vote from a selection of five films to determine a future Criterion Blu-ray release. (The others were Au Revoir Les Enfants, Down By Law, Kwaidan, and Picnic at Hanging Rock.) It can’t be considered too great of a surprise that Howards End took the top spot — one viewing, and it becomes clear why the film is beloved.
Thompson stars as Margaret Schlegel, a middle-class woman in Edwardian England. She receives word that her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter, charming and impudent) has begun an engagement with a young man from the very wealthy Wilcox family. The engagement quickly reveals itself to be a sham, but it’s just the beginning of a long-term relationship with the Wilcox family, its patriarch Henry (Anthony Hopkins), and his wife, Ruth (Vanessa Redgrave).
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