This tv miniseries is my first encounter with the story of Howard's End as based on the book of E. M. Forster ("Howard's End"). I like the idea of the story, how the characters and their relationships represent the marriage of Britain's rising progressive idealism and awareness of social justice with its opulent wealth based off of capitalism and the concessions that sometimes happens in between. I think this idea underlies the odd relationship between the agung and prosperous Mr. Wilcox and his second wife Margaret Schlegel, a young optimist. Though an interesting intellectual pairing, the two lovers never quite seem to belong to the same space together, let alone the same house and to the same name. The romance between Mr. Wilcox and Margaret Schlegel perhaps isn't the point of Howard's End, but I thought it was the best plot the story had and there was nothing else adequate to substitute.
The story of Howard's End is perhaps too allegorical for its own good, and also perhaps too progressive in a way that doesn't feel true. I am not referring to just the diversity of the cast to which others have had complaints, but really, overall. The two Schlegel sisters are hyper egalitarian in a way that is nice, but one-note and eventually grating because it seems out of historical context and in a way, digressing and like sermonizing. At some point you get tired of endless do-gooders, right?
I did watch the entire four episodes of the series and although shades of characters my opinions were left primarily unchanged. A conversation between Margaret and her sister Helen about the former's impending marriage with Mr. Wilcox did impress but did not substantially alter the character of the relationship between the two from inception to end. I felt there was a lack of progress overall in the series. There was enough catalyst, but not enough transformation for me to feel a connection with the story or its characters.
I have neglected to mention however that Howard's End is a visually stunning miniseries. It's use of color and light surpasses many of today's films and especially other BBC productions. Howards End is an interesting of super high definition brilliant color and old world fashions and the artistic direction does work with the optimism of the story and its characters, but sometimes there is an over repetition of certain color keys that while often sumptuous becomes heavy handed and the symbolism of red, for example, becomes lost.
I did not mind the music and found it gorgeous, actually.
Howard's End is very even keel and does not tend towards the dramatic at all. In this age of the over sensationalized perhaps that is a relief, but I did wish for a greater narrative to follow and I was mildly disappointed. High marks for the visual aesthetics (previous reviews don't lie-there are many paintings here in the still shots) and the acting was pretty good but definite room for improvement in meaningful areas.
The story of Howard's End is perhaps too allegorical for its own good, and also perhaps too progressive in a way that doesn't feel true. I am not referring to just the diversity of the cast to which others have had complaints, but really, overall. The two Schlegel sisters are hyper egalitarian in a way that is nice, but one-note and eventually grating because it seems out of historical context and in a way, digressing and like sermonizing. At some point you get tired of endless do-gooders, right?
I did watch the entire four episodes of the series and although shades of characters my opinions were left primarily unchanged. A conversation between Margaret and her sister Helen about the former's impending marriage with Mr. Wilcox did impress but did not substantially alter the character of the relationship between the two from inception to end. I felt there was a lack of progress overall in the series. There was enough catalyst, but not enough transformation for me to feel a connection with the story or its characters.
I have neglected to mention however that Howard's End is a visually stunning miniseries. It's use of color and light surpasses many of today's films and especially other BBC productions. Howards End is an interesting of super high definition brilliant color and old world fashions and the artistic direction does work with the optimism of the story and its characters, but sometimes there is an over repetition of certain color keys that while often sumptuous becomes heavy handed and the symbolism of red, for example, becomes lost.
I did not mind the music and found it gorgeous, actually.
Howard's End is very even keel and does not tend towards the dramatic at all. In this age of the over sensationalized perhaps that is a relief, but I did wish for a greater narrative to follow and I was mildly disappointed. High marks for the visual aesthetics (previous reviews don't lie-there are many paintings here in the still shots) and the acting was pretty good but definite room for improvement in meaningful areas.