1992: Howards End

Screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Adapted from the novel Howards End by E. M. Forster

This is the story of the middle-class Schlegel sisters and their dealings with two families: the upper-class Wilcoxes, who own a house called Howards End, and the lower-class Basts.

This book was longer and a bit more dense than the last E. M. Forster story I blogged about (A Room with a View). It's still a good book, but I could have done with fewer philosophical tangents. The movie, while it does omit a few of these, is still longer than one would expect compared to the length of the novel, mostly because the book is mostly from Margaret Schlegel's perspective, with a few notable exceptions, whereas the film shows us certain events that she didn't witness, which are only briefly described later in the book when she learns of them. This allows for more explicit foreshadowing in the film. In the novel, several developments seem to come almost out of nowhere; since Margaret had no way to predict them, neither did the reader. These same events in the film come as much less of a surprise to the viewer, since we've been shown more of what led up to them.

For the most part, everything that happens in the book also happens in the film, although some of the details are changed. For example, in both versions, Helen Schlegel meets Leonard Bast after inadvertently stealing his umbrella when they were both listening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. In the book, they were at a concert, and Margaret, Aunt Juley, and a German cousin were all with Helen. In the film, they were at a lecture, and Helen was alone. This mostly helps simplify the incident, but it also changes the dynamic between Helen and Leonard for the entire story, and again, helps with the foreshadowing. There are several other similar alterations that all help achieve this. I wouldn't call the book disjointed, but the movie is definitely more cohesive.

In short, I think it would be difficult, if not nearly impossible, to adapt this story into a feature film better than was done here. The characters are perfectly brought to life, and the events are all relatively, if not exactly, consistent with the book. The few changes there are make the story flow better and easier to follow. I don't love the story - I think Henry Wilcox is a despicable human being and cannot for the life of me figure out what Margaret sees in him - but it's one of the best novel-to-film adaptations I've seen. And I've seen a lot of them by now.

I just realized that this movie is currently the most recent Best Adapted Screenplay winner that also won Best Actress. And it's also the only time so far (that we know of) when a person has won a Best Actress Oscar who would later go on to win a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. But before I get to Emma Thompson's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, I will be revisiting two more Best Picture Winners, beginning with Schindler's List, based on the novel by Thomas Keneally, which was based on a true story.