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
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
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.
