Post by captainofbeef on Apr 28, 2010 12:22:52 GMT -5
The pinnacle of the decades-long collaboration between producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, Howards End is a luminous vision of E. M. Forster’s cutting 1910 novel about class divisions in Edwardian England. Emma Thompson won an Academy Award for her dynamic portrayal of Margaret Schlegel, a flighty yet compassionate middle-class intellectual whose friendship with the dying wife (Vanessa Redgrave) of rich capitalist Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) commences an intricately woven tale of money, love, and death that encompasses the country’s highest and lowest social echelons. With a brilliant, layered script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (who also won an Oscar) and a roster of gripping performances, Howards End is a work of both great beauty and vivid darkness, and one of cinema’s best literary adaptations.
* High-definition digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts and approved by director James Ivory (with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* New video appreciation of the late Ismail Merchant by director Ivory
* Building “Howards End,” a documentary featuring interviews with Ivory, Merchant, Helena Bonham Carter, costume designer Jenny Beavan, and Academy Award–winning production designer Luciana Arrighi
* The Design of “Howards End,” a detailed look at the costume and production designs for the film, including original sketches
* The Wandering Company, a 50-minute documentary about the history of Merchant Ivory Productions
* Original 1992 behind-the-scenes featurette
* Original theatrical trailer
* PLUS: An essay by critic Kenneth Turan (available only with the Blu-ray edition)
