Howards End (1992)

The peak. Forster's story of the idealistic Schlegel sisters, the wealthy Wilcoxes and a struggling clerk is about who gets to own England, and the house at the center is the prize everyone misunderstands. Emma Thompson won the Best Actress Oscar as Margaret, Anthony Hopkins makes the businessman Henry Wilcox both blinkered and oddly sympathetic, and Vanessa Redgrave's brief turn as the first Mrs. Wilcox haunts the whole film. It led the year with nine Oscar nominations and won three. If you watch only one, make it this.