Last week I needed a DVD to check test the audio-visual system at work, so I went to the library to borrowing one. I ended up taking out Howard’s End, a movie that I’ve been meaning to see for years. Why have I been meaning to see it? Well, I’m a huge fan of Emma Thompson, the movie won several academy awards, and when done well, I enjoy period dramas.

The movie is long (around two and a half hours), but I didn’t feel it dragged particularly, and I thought the adaptation from the book was excellent although I have to admit to never having read the book. What I really mean is that I didn’t feel that the film suffered from it’s being an adaptation from a novel. The cast really is stellar, and they do a good job here.

The story is one of the class system in England at the time. The interaction between the classes, and the privileges afforded to each class. It’s nice to think that things aren’t quite so stratified these days, although we’re by no means living in a fair world now.

I tried to knit while watching the movie, which was a huge disaster. Before the movie had even started I’d managed to spill water over everything, and I ended up spending more time fixing mistakes than actually knitting. Still, I think I made some forward progress.