Regreso a Howards End

Another beautiful combination of Forster's novel, Ivory's direction, and Helena Bonham Carter's talent. If you give the novel "Howards End" a chance and complement this film with the recent series, you may be rewarded with a truly relaxing experience resulting from the lyrical description of the surroundings of the most banal scandal. It is tender and the psychology of the main characters must be understood in order to know the foundations on which our society stands. (31.05.2020)

Excellent acting performances and a good example of how relationships between people can become complicated simply because some people are inherently evil and that evil just comes to the surface, whether it is in the form of envy or in another way. Well-directed film that has a classically timeless message. (28.02.2018)

The Remains of the Day, from the same director, was made just a year later and I consider it a genre gem, a film that can only be written about in superlatives. Therefore, I approached Howards End with the feeling that Ivory could not significantly disappoint me and that the film was a safe bet. The same director, the same genre, and actually the same cast. Nevertheless, the result is fundamentally different. Both films have a similar duration and slow narrative pace, but while with The Remains of the Day, I felt the great tension and internal dramas and dilemmas of its protagonists, despite the seemingly melancholic peaceful atmosphere, with Howards End I felt more indifference, and attacks of boredom with each passing minute. The Remains of the Day works for me as an artistic statement about the changing social atmosphere of Britain in the 1930s and 1940s, while Howards End, which attempts to do the same by going back a few decades earlier, fails in the same endeavor. It feels scattered, diluted, and tired. I could talk about the high production value and notable actors involved, but only because I cannot find a reason to say anything positive about the story and characters. I consider Howards End to be Ivory's creative defeat. While I would cautiously recommend The Remains of the Day to a wider range of viewers (because its slow pace may present an insurmountable obstacle for today's teenagers), Howards End only has significance for genre enthusiasts and fans of Ivory's creative style. Overall impression: 40%. (04.02.2017)