Howard's End (1992) vs Howard's End (2017-2018)

Somehow I found myself having seen the mini-series with Matthew MacFadyen and Haley Atwell first, and it's really worth the watch as well, but this version is of course shorter and splendid. Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, besides James Ivory directing - a really good combination. I've always enjoyed A Room With A View (not the newer Andrew Davies version, no), which like this has a young Helena Bonham-Carter in it as well. It's based on one of E.M. Forsters novels.

Howard's End is about two sisters Helen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) who get entangled with a family called the Wilcox. Mrs Wilcox becomes friendly with Margaret and upon her deathbed bestows her  home, much beloved to herself - Howard's End to Margaret. This in itself is frowned upon by the children of Mrs Wilcox and her husband played by Anthony Hopkins. This is not what the film is really about, but more about whether or not two people with such opposing views can ever really communicate.

It's also about how one can judge others by a standard one hasn't managed to uphold either. If you enjoy costume drama's you'll enjoy this one as well, or the mini-series. Both are rather good, which is why I'm struggling to compare them. I don't often stumble on that dilemma. Usually one is visually good and the other lesser so, but both are well-acted and beautiful so one can't complain. They probably benefit from not being watched back to back, however.