English summary

Filmmuseum EYE is re-releasing the English classic Howards End. Winner of three Oscars, this handsomely designed romantic costume drama is based on E. M. Forster’s novel of the same name. The drama takes place shortly before the First World War.

Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson), a woman of the middle classes, marries a rather inhibited widower Henry (Anthony Hopkins), an affluent businessman. Margaret is a modern woman who expresses her feelings, even though her marriage is a rather bizarre one of convenience. What follows is a painfully intense narrative involving rivalling families, amorous entanglements, efforts to retain ownership of a country estate and class differences in the Edwardian age.

Howards End is a stylish, perceptive portrait of England in about 1910. This is a strictly class-based society in which social origins determine the course of people’s lives. The film was nominated for nine Oscars, and won three: best writing/screenplay, best actress in a leading role, and best art direction/set decoration.