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The Age of Innocence

 
Movies:

The Age of Innocence

  • Director: Martin Scorsese
  • AMG Rating: starstarstarstar
  • Genre: Drama
  • Movie Type: Romantic Drama, Period Film
  • Themes: Otherwise Engaged, Social Climbing, Love Triangles
  • Main Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Miriam Margolyes, Richard E. Grant, Alec McCowen
  • Release Year: 1993
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 138 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: PG

Plot

In Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel, romance between an upper-class gentleman and an ostracized lady is doomed by 19th century New York society. Shortly after his engagement to blandly genteel May Welland (Winona Ryder), Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) is reacquainted with May's scandalous cousin Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). As the head of an esteemed family, Archer initially uses his standing to try to rehabilitate Ellen's reputation, but he finds himself increasingly drawn to her disregard for the codes of New York manners. Bound by ingrained society mores and his peers' insinuations, Newland tries to dodge his growing passion by rushing his marriage to May, but he cannot keep himself from confessing his love to Ellen. Recognizing that Newland could never abandon his sense of honor and be happy, Ellen pushes Newland to May and leaves town. The marriage proceeds as dictated, but when Newland unexpectedly sees Ellen again, he yearns for the affair to come to fruition. However, he underestimates not only what May knows but also her ability to uphold the rules of propriety. Sumptuously shot by Michael Ballhaus, the film offers meticulously designed costumes and settings that evoke a culture as seductively beautiful in its surfaces as it is stifling in its rituals. Unspoken emotions are expressed through such details as yellow roses or a clipped cigar, a fade to red or a single camera move. Using Wharton's original prose to comment on the setting's hypocrisies, Joanne Woodward's voiceover narration suggests how much decisive power is buried beneath dainty femininity. The Age of Innocence received five Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Ryder and Best Screenplay for Scorsese and Jay Cocks, and a win for Best Costumes. Although The Age of Innocence seemed like a departure from Scorsese's prior work, Newland is as much at the mercy of his circle's Byzantine structure (and his own conscience) as are Scorsese's more familiar mobsters; Newland's persecutors just wear white tie and tails. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Review

The 1990s brought a number of films about forbidden romance in Victorian society. Apart from the contributions of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, as well as Titanic and The Wings of the Dove, there was this beautifully acted, impeccably directed effort from Martin Scorsese. Repression and sexual longing are the order of the day, but Scorsese is too clever a filmmaker to allow Edith Wharton's themes of sacrifice and passion to lead him into melodrama. The film is about those things, but it is also a story about social and familial responsibility, one of the very few of its type in which the conventions of the time don't seem laughably hypocritical. These people are indeed playing emotional chess, and they are being very careful, because every move means a loss of one form or another. The cast is terrific and the production design is gorgeous, but -- like many of the public charades its characters are forced to enact -- there is more to this film than appearances. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Cast

Geraldine Chaplin - Mrs. Welland; Mary Beth Hurt - Regina Beaufort; Stuart Wilson - Julius Beaufort; Sian Phillips - Mrs. Archer; Michael Gough - Henry Van Der Luyden; Alexis Smith - Mrs. Louisa Van Der Luyden; Norman Lloyd - Mr. Letterblair; Jonathan Pryce - Monsieur Riviere; Carolyn Farina - Janey Archer; Robert Sean Leonard - Ted Archer; Thomas Barbour - Archer Guest; Claire Bloom; Brian Davies - Philip; Tracey Ellis - Gertrude Lefferts; Henry Fehren - Bishop; Thomas Gibson - Stage Actor; Catherine Scorsese; Charles Scorsese; Domenica Scorsese - Katie Blenker; June Squibb - Mingott Maid; Martin Scorsese - Photographer (uncredited); Joanne Woodward - Narrator; Clement Fowler - Florist; John McLoughlin - Party Guest; Zoe - Herself; Patricia Dunnock - Mary Archer; W.B. Brydon - Mr. Urban Dagonet; Howard Erskine - Beaufort Guest

Credit

Speed Hopkins - Art Director, Jean-Michel Hugon - Art Director, Joseph P. Reidy - Associate Producer, Ellen Lewis - Casting, Bruce S. Pustin - Co-producer, Gabriella Pescucci - Costume Designer, Martin Scorsese - Director, Thelma Schoonmaker - Editor, Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score), Allen Weisinger - Makeup, David M. Dunlap - Camera Operator, Dante Ferretti - Production Designer, Michael Ballhaus - Cinematographer, Barbara de Fina - Producer, Robert Franco - Set Designer, Amy Marshall - Set Designer, Syd Dutton - Special Effects, Bill Taylor - Special Effects, Tod A. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, Martin Scorsese - Screenwriter, Jay Cocks - Screenwriter, Edith Wharton - Book Author

Similar Movies

The Bostonians; Dangerous Liaisons; Ethan Frome; The Europeans; The Go-Between; The Heiress; Howards End; The Innocent; Our Betters; The Remains of the Day; The Portrait of a Lady; The Wings of the Dove; Mansfield Park; Onegin; The Golden Bowl; The House of Mirth; Far from Heaven; Brokeback Mountain; Children of the Century
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Wikipedia: The Age of Innocence (film)
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The Age of Innocence

original movie poster
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Produced by Barbara De Fina
Bruce S. Pustin
Written by Novel:
Edith Wharton
Screenplay:
Jay Cocks
Martin Scorsese
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis
Michelle Pfeiffer
Winona Ryder
Joanne Woodward
Geraldine Chaplin
Richard E. Grant
Miriam Margolyes
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography Michael Ballhaus
Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) October 1, 1993
Running time 139 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $34 million [1]

The Age of Innocence is a 1993 film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder, released by Columbia Pictures. It is a film adaptation of the book of the same name by Edith Wharton. The film won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Contents

Plot

Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) is an affluent lawyer in 1870s New York, engaged to May Welland (Winona Ryder), a beautiful but conventional socialite. Newland begins to question the life he has planned for himself after the arrival of May’s cousin, the exotic and sophisticated Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). Ellen is a passionate lover who is seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, a Polish count, which has made her a social outcast and greatly displeases her family, who are afraid of scandal. As Newland grows to love and care more and more deeply for Ellen, having convinced her not to press for a divorce, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the society to which he belongs and the idea of entering into a passionless marriage with May. The question at this point, is whether he will follow society's dictates, or those of his heart. The film, closely mirroring the novel, gives no simple answer.

Production

Much of the film, particularly those scenes set in the home of Mrs. Manson Mingott (May's and Ellen's grandmother), was filmed in the Paine Mansion on 2nd Street in Troy, New York. The building, known locally as "The Castle", is the home of the Alpha Tau chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, chartered to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Cast

Crew

Awards

Academy Awards

Award Person
Costume Design Gabriella Pescucci
Nominated:
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Winona Ryder
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Jay Cocks
Martin Scorsese
Best Original Score Elmer Bernstein
Art Direction Dante Ferretti
Robert J. Franco

Golden Globes

Award Person
Supporting Actress Winona Ryder
Nominated:
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
Best Actress - Drama Michelle Pfeiffer
Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture Martin Scorsese

References

External links


 
 

 

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