Howards End

FROM ΒΟΟΚ TO SCREEN
In collaboration with the Hellenic Foundation for Books and Culture

21:00 Introduction - Q&A on the novel and the film by Katerina Schina, Translator - Literature Critic

21:30 HOWARDS END (1992, 140’)
Directed by: James Ivory
Starring: Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave
Duration: 140 minutes
Year of Production: 1992

Based on the celebrated novel by E.M. Forster, Howards End vividly and insightfully captures Edwardian England at a time of social transformation, charting the increasingly complex intersection between the world of ideals and the world of capital. At the heart of the story is the symbolic country house of Howards End, around which orbit two contrasting families: the Schlegels - progressive, intellectual, and advocates for artistic and feminist values - and the Wilcoxes - pragmatic, wealthy capitalists immersed in business, cars, and imperial certainties.

The plot is set in motion when these two worlds are brought into direct, often comically tragic, contact through a romantic engagement between the youngest, free-spirited Schlegel sister and a member of the Wilcox family. While the story addresses themes of social mobility, gender roles, class conflict, and the tension between individual desire and societal expectation, it ultimately champions empathy, connection, and the necessity of reaching beyond one's own world to encounter the Other—emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

Widely regarded as one of the finest films of the 1990s, Howards End earned nine Academy Award nominations and won three Oscars: Best Actress (Emma Thompson), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Art Direction. Forster’s novel has been published in Greek in multiple editions: by Kastaniotis (translated by Yuri Kovalenko), by Klidi - Nea Synora Livanis (translated by Giorgos Kousounelos), by Hermias (translated by Pavlos P. Nathanail), and by Metaichmio in 2007 (translated by Gogo Arvaniti).