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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Werewillie Oleson" data-source="post: 408210" data-attributes="member: 8">[ATTACH=full]54256[/ATTACH]Whereas REMAINS has that enticing stiff-upper-lip atmosphere and meticulous narrative from the very beginning, HOWARDS END has a rather messy start.There are various scenes that are not strongly connected, there are three youg men with blond hair therefore it's difficult to see who's-in-what-scene, and after 30 minutes I still didn't know who or what the main focus of the film was going to be.The only reason I kept watching was because of Vanessa Redgrave's character, while hoping the story would find its groove, as it were.But no, it actually becomes much messier and maybe that's not what I expected or wanted from this film, but it's what I needed.It's as gorgeous as all the other Merchant Ivory productions but at the same time I think it's also the darkest thing they've ever done.Ruth Wilcox (Redgrave) comes across as a likeable character because she befriends Emma Thompson and they talk about the trees and the lovely meadows, but it's the innocent and passive snobbery that makes her such a monster. Sobbing about the demolition of a fancy house someone happened to be born in while the working class struggles to find a decent home they can afford."I can't understand that people would want to live in flats" - it's because it's slim pickings for the ordinary peeps but she doesn't even understand that, or doesn't want to.Unlike Krystle Carrington, Emma Thompson does not succeed in redeeming husband Antony Hopkins, but there's also a scene in which they're dancing excitedly in his office, and in that moment they are   the likeable protagonists.This dual mood continues until the very end, it's what makes it a little problematic but also very interesting and unpredictable.Is it about good people doing or saying ugly things or is it about ugly people doing something good   every now and then? It's hard to say, to be honest.The tragedy at the very end looks a bit silly but also shocking as the aristocrat literally hits the poor man when he's down.There are plenty of humorous moments, mostly because of Charles and Dolly Wilcox, an unexpected reveal from the past, Helena Bonham Carter's character's quest for justice even though it doesn't seem to be appreciated by anyone, a frustratingly unfulfilled romance (but not without consequences) and then there's Howards End itself which isn't nearly as important to the story as the beginning suggested.Messy, but in a very, very good way.</blockquote>

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