Looking In At Howards End | Video Essay

Howards End (1992) is a classic Merchant Ivory 'heritage cinema' film, adapting E.M. Forster's novel to the big screen with Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. The titular house, Howards End, is one of several important houses featured in the film that reflect the lives and fortunes of its inhabitants; by analysing these locations, we can come to understand more about the conservative nature of heritage cinema.
Originally produced as part of the Cinema Rediscovered Critics Day, this video essay is presented on my KZbin channel for the first time with a new edit and voiceover. Here's my analysis of Howards End and the importance of place in the film.
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[@Mariathinking]

I watched it today. I honestly could relate a bit to bast. Whenever I go to a museum in London or visit a fancy park or watch movies about the rich/or with stunning scenery I feel depressed coming back home to a council house reality.

[@Indietrix]

💯

[@stephendouglas4870]

I'm the same, with the same background as yourself. One of my favourite books from my schooldays as Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee, and feel that many English people have a (an often subconscious) heartache for a lost rural past that began its nemesis with the enclosures of the C18th and since. I love this film, have reflected on it many times, and on Bast, who is much like myself.

[@Paulco67]

Don’t be depressed! It’s your home. Make it as nice as you can. Plant flowers. It’s your HOME. Billons of people in poorer countries look at your house like you look at mansions…

[@RomaInvicta202]

You would be way more depressed had you lived in Victorian times: these beauties were reserved for the precious few And nothing really has changed

[@msjennifer6119]

"...it can't serve as anything but a fatal distraction." THANK YOU! Leonard and Jackie were crushed under the narrative and I couldn't believe how anyone could think this was a happy ending! You said it perfectly, sir. Thank you for this great work!

[@Indietrix]

I suppose I think that while it's quite a tragic ending, it's also sort of hopeful about the future; despite the downfall of Jackie and Leonard, at least his son will live on in a better world (albeit via, yknow, inheriting generational wealth, which is not exactly unproblematic)

[@grzegorzlitynski7545]

"A place, as well as a person, may catch the glow". But how ? Every place, every person ? I feel that Howards End is somehow universal. Thank you for your valuable insight.

[@anastasiialopareva9097]

Such a good essay!

[@Indietrix]

thanks so much- it's a pleasure to take time out and think about Howards End :)

[@stephendouglas4870]

I've enjoyed this film many times over, and each time thought over the subtexts and nuances of the clash of personalities in the story, and now about to re-read the book. From first viewing, I could identify with Leonard Bast, and was delighted to see a KZbin interview somewhere with the actor who played him,, saying that he had always wanted the role! The above essay hits the nail on the head in mentioning Bast's need to create an inner world that is his own. I recommend Forster's essays, as he underlines the importance of real human heart to heart relations, over and above that of institutions, class or nationality. Reading the book, it seemed to me that there was a deliberate pointed reason why the Schlegals were born of a German father, for by 1910 Forster would have been aware of the jingoism in the new tabloid newspapers, and seen with disgust the whipping up of anti-German sentiments, and of the direction in which the two countries were heading. When the film ends, I find myself wondering what will happen to all the characters during and then after the cataclysm of WW1.

[@Indietrix]

Something that Forster taps into in this story, and which is picked up in other Merchant Ivory films (i'm thinking of Remains of the Day), is that the upper class are the only ones who can afford to have a past, or at least choose to forget it. Bast's positively lit up at the idea of halcyon ancestors; Jacky's complex life centres on an affair with Mr Wilcox, who has the luxury of simply ignoring that part of his life. And of course the Schlegels sit somewhere in between, part of a newly mobile class that can entertain these thoughts but also has to consider their material place (which ofc Forster communicates best through the device of Howards End itself). I guess I see Forster as a socialist in a pastoral tradition, sort of like H. G. Wells (well, some of Wells), or maybe a less rugged Jack London. As for WW1, I think it's one of the interesting textures added by MI's adaptation - they're looking back as much as Forster was looking forward. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!

[@Analysis_Paralysis]

I really like your observations... And I just realized, the young proletarian who loved books and who used them as an escape was buried under them, killed by their weight. I wouldn't have recognized that without watching your video! It's poignant.

[@peterphilstacey4698]

The film is everything , there is no weakness within the film, every facet of being human is covered, you can view the film from every angle , the poisonous British class system to what real 'connection' truly means, and then of course the beauty of the locations to Leonards run down area of London,the contradictions are so marked, it surpasses the book, and that is no insult, many thanks for this review, sometimes I forget the importance of the locations, as it is so interwoven and complete , the imagery and emotion swamps the senses.

[@bonniex3806]

this was such a good essays and insight into howards end. thanks so much for making this great video essay!

[@Indietrix]

thank you for commenting and glad you enjoyed the video!

[@kmcq692]

I would like to add to your apt conclusions that the makers/artists each had full consciousness of the grief and injustice implicit as undergirding every paragraph, every frame, every apparent “truth” you’ve described. THAT is what makes this film a masterpiece. If anyone wants to study self aggrandizing parables of the virtues of this era, waste some brain cells with Downton Abbey. Oh lord help us.

[@Indietrix]

yeah, it's interesting how subtly M&I shift the emphasis in scenes to reflect some updated morals around certain elements of the plot versus Forster's original depictions! and yes, Downton is really just a soap- not on the same level (although I'm sure some enjoy it)

[@tinquerbutt]

To make Downton Abbey even more of a Kardashian-like waste of wealth and opportunities, the ending of the series was absolutely painful. They married everyone off, with a tacky Hallmark movie-style bow; like marriages of necessity would fix the plights of the servant-class.

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

@@tinquerbutt I had to stop watching downtown abbey because I could feel that ending coming. It just felt wrong to have class divisions such a glaring set piece without every doing anything interesting with it

[@locolocoseoul]

Dare say this is better than NY Times review

[@biddyyeh]

Thanks for this essay, very inspiring to me 😊

[@LAchyM3]

The happy ending is that Leonard Bast and Helen Schlegel’s child will inherit Howard’s End which represents the triumph of noble minds and artistic spirits over the mean-spirited Wilcox clan. Whilst Jacky’s ultimate fate is not specifically mentioned Helen had previously attempted to give the Basts five thousand pounds which is then declined by Leonard. His pride - or perhaps more generously, his nobility of mind - repeatedly gets in the way of his own (and Jacky’s) material well-being in contrast to the unscrupulousness of Henry Wilcox, however, the richness of Leonard’s inner life is contrasted with the meanness of Henry’s materially (outer) focused life. It should be noted that the inner motives of the rest of the Wilcoxes (or even Tibby) are no more developed than that of Jacky. I thought this video essay would be illuminating - and whilst it is certainly spoken very well and raises interesting points about the idea of place - it seems prejudiced towards a nuanced movement in cinema. It seems that the reviewer is focused on the superficial aspects of ‘Heritage Cinema’, i.e. fancy hats and houses and misses the point of Leonard and Helen being the heroes of the narrative and how their sacrifices mean that their child will inherit the house (i.e. England.) I feel that coming away from watching or reading Howard’s End and feeling that it is an advertisement for reactionary values has managed to miss the ambition and spirit of not only EM Forster but also Merchant Ivory and possibly every single one of the actors that brought it to life onscreen.

[@JosephLazzaro-k4s]

You said eloquently what I just posted lumpily.

[@RandMontauk]

Wow thank you for such a deep commentary on this movie.

[@Teezer44]

This is brilliant.

[@Indietrix]

thanks so much, glad you enjoyed!

[@timothyhopkins6960]

A very good review .

[@Indietrix]

thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@JosephLazzaro-k4s]

I'm sorry. Helen Schlagle's thrust as a challenge to conservative convention (rash though it be) through the whole of the story, and the fact that Leonard's (working class) child will inherit Howard's End finally, depart from your idea significantly.

[@tanyastebbing9763]

No, it's about irony. It's about England and it's future inheritors.. Your review is given with a jaundiced, cynical, progressive eye.

[@Indietrix]

I don’t think you understood what I was talking about if you thought I was ignoring the idea of England’s inheritors? Unless we’re talking at cross-purposes, that’s what this video is about: how M&I use places to construct an analysis of class that looks forwards to increased social mobility

[@anemicsilence]

👍👍👍

[@Indietrix]

👍

[@infinitum8558]

I appreciate your analysis, but I thought the film was a mess. It was like the movie had three potentially good films in it, but instead of choosing one story, it tried to do them all at once. - Film 1: a couple gets married to their families surprise, so now the families have to quickly get acquainted, thus comedy ensues. - Film 2: A dying old lady bequeaths Howard's End to her friend, to her family's surprise. They don't like it, but Mrs. Schlegel moves in, thus drama ensues. - Film 3: A Jane Austen romance between the rich Mr.Wilcox and Mrs.Schlegel. Anyone of these options would make for a great film, but because Howard's End decides to do all three, we get a jumbled mess that leaves tbe viewer unsatisfied

[@chicklyall8128]

The film is very nice to look at. I found it meandered endlessly without any real sense of depth of character.

[@Paulco67]

I’d say this movie went right over your head if you simply call it “nice to look at”… Be patient and watch and listen to what’s being said…

[@chicklyall8128]

@@Paulco67 Ok M’Lord. Sorry to express an opinion. You go and look up the word ‘patronising’

[@MadmanGoneMad2012]

​@@chicklyall8128​​​ a bit defensive are we? And what's with the aggression? Insecurity spilling out perhaps? 😂

[@timothyj1966]

Essay really missing the mark. Sorry. You miserably fail to understand the world of Forester, his philosophy on life, love, relationsships, Rich, poor, Industrialization, and on and on... The "Film" is not a pretty chocolate box to make us look back at a nicey packaged past. Merchant Ivory bang the nail on the head with this ending. Try again.

[@Indietrix]

This essay is not about the *Forster novel, but the Merchant Ivory film, specifically how sense of place reflects character as presented in the film. MI did indeed aim to critically assess plenty of Forster's themes and in some cases present them differently (as I discuss in this video), but also their work built a template for a view of 'heritage cinema' that has continued to be used today (there could be no Downton Abbey without Merchant Ivory, for better or for worse). For what it's worth, I think it's a fantastic film and hope that comes across in the video. I am confident in my conclusions here and will not be trying again, but thanks for the feedback.

[@poppaboppa6000]

Hey timothyj, you are gay 😝

[@kerrycavanaugh4268]

timothyj1966 You really missed the mark. Firstly, art is not an absolute as you seem to think. It is to be enjoyed and its meaning fluid for each and every viewer. Second, you're very much a bully and probably had nothing to do but give yourself away as a pretentious snob to go after a creator who took the time and hard work to make this thoughtful essay. There isn't anything wrong with disagreeing with others but why in such a vicious manner?

[@timothyj1966]

@@poppaboppa6000 YES I am Gay as are the Producers/Director of ALL the Merchant Ivory Productions! so WHAT?!??????

[@tinquerbutt]

Beautifully encapsulated...and eloquently spoken. I watched this movie and missed the entire subtexts, it appears. Your insights made me understand its power. Thank you.

[@Indietrix]

thanks so much, really glad you got something from the video and that it enriched your experience of Howards End!