Closing out the '90s

The last Oscar winner of the '90s (in the usual categories) that I had not yet seen was Howard's End, winner of the 1993 Oscars for Best Actress (Emma Thompson) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala). The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (James Ivory), and Best Supporting Actress (Vanessa Redgrave).

In early 1900s London, Margaret Schlegel (Thompson) befriends Ruth Wilcox (Redgrave), a meek older woman, in ill health, who has been left behind by her family while they enjoy vacation activities that are too strenuous for her. The two had been briefly acquainted before, and one of Wilcox's sons had, the year before, been involved in a romantic relationship with Schlegel's sister, Helen (Helena Bonham Carter), which had ended badly. Over the course of their budding friendship, Margaret mentions to Ruth that she will soon be losing her lifelong home. Ruth adds an informal addition to her will, stating her intention that Margaret should be given the family estate, Howard's End. The Wilcoxes agree that this addition was the product of an infirm mind, and that it would be best for the family to simply burn it and keep the house. Afterward, however, Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins), Ruth's husband, falls in love with Margaret, and tries to both make up for and keep hidden his act of duplicity.

And that was the stripped down, simplified plot summary. There were several other subplots that I didn't mention, most of which are equally convoluted. There is a lot going on in this film, probably too much for the already bloated 2 hour 15 minute running time. The story, which I suppose is intended to be a satire of the stuffy British aristocracy, is itself too stuffy and aristocratic to be enjoyed by most viewers. Aside from Ruth, who dies fairly early in the film, it is rather difficult for the viewer to find any characters to identify with, as their motivations are either too selfish and snobbish, or too self-righteously charitable, to be supported. Thompson's character sets herself up to be the only one to identify with, headstrong enough to stay true to her beliefs, but charitable enough to have beliefs worth staying true to... until Henry proposes marriage, and she suddenly abandons all of her principles out of a desperate wish to be a proper wife. I've seen other films like this before - stuffy British period pieces whose main goal seems to be baiting as many Oscar nominations as possible. (See the following year's follow-up, The Remains of the Day, which reunited the writer, director, producer, and two stars of this film) But most of the others that I have seen do at least have something to say, a story that is at least approachable, if not completely absorbing to me. This film didn't really have any of that - it came across to me as nothing more than Oscar-bait.

Movie trivia question: This film marks the only time in Oscar history that an actor was nominated for more than one award posthumously (after he died, he was nominated for Oscars for 2 films, in 2 consecutive years).