The Age of Innocence
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Actor: Carolyn Farina, Daniel Day-Lewis, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Geraldine Chaplin, Tracey EllisBrand: DAY-LEWIS,DANIEL
Primary Contributor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Primary Contributor: Michelle Pfeiffer
Primary Contributor: Winona Ryder
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language); Chinese (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Korean (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 139 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-11-06
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of The Age of Innocence
DVD Review: Floral and Lace-Like Exquisiteness
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, I have observed that Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder should have had opposite roles, as they would have then better fit the descriptions of their respective characters, Ellen Olenska and May Welland. However, the acting of both was superb, as was that of Daniel Day-Lewis as society lawyer, Newland Archer, and the rest of the cast.
Our setting is that of New York Society in the 1870s. We begin with a night at the opera, and with Joanne Woodward's appropriately genteel narration, we become acquainted with this rareified world--the veneer of which could be ruffled by the slightest hint of scandal. Students of the Victorian age may admire the meticulous attention paid to the details of dress, jewels, meals, etiquette, accessories, architecture, paintings, gifts given on appropriate occassions, social mores, the symbolism of flowers presented to ladies, etc.
Camera lenses pan across opera boxes, ballrooms, dining room tables, enchanting gardens, and a wealth of art on museums and household walls.
Amid the mildly expressed indignation of Sillerton Jackson and Larry Lefferts(Alec McCowen and Richard E. Grant),the societal experts on family histories and on form, Countess Ellen Olenska, May's European-raised cousin, who is something of a persona non grata among New York Society because she is separated from her husband, joins the newly engaged May and her mother (Geraldine Chaplain) in their opera box, and are later joined by Newland, May's fiance.The characters of the two female leads are well represented by Gabriella Pescucci's costumes--Ellen's sharp sweetheart-necklined royal blue satin, and May's pallid tulle-laden gown which makes the latter look ethereal, seem to represent experience and innocence. Ellen spends much time clad in rich jewel tones.
At the moment Newland greets her in the box, the Countess, whispering delicately about her earlier acquaintance with those present, gracefully sweeps her fan over the audience beneath her to illustrate the point she is making.
At the annual ball given my Mr. and Mrs. Julius Beaufort(Stuart Wilson and Mary Beth Hurt), May shows off her engagement ring, and chats pleasantly with her fiance.
May's grandmother, Mrs. Manson Mingott(Miriam Margoyles), is delighted by the engagement, and wants to give the wedding breakfast. As the story progresses, the obese couch-ridden matriarch will act as an adviser on the marital dilemmas of her kinfolk, sometimes to her own distress.
As his own wedding day approaches, Archer discusses Ellen's situation with law firm partner Mr. Letterblain(Norman Lloyd), and tries to beg off taking her case.
Newland and May marry, honeymoon in Europe, and still find Ellen's issues awaiting them upon their return. Newland is torn between his attraction to the unconventional Countess, whose disregard for a few societal customs, such as wearing red at formal gatherings, leaving one gentleman's company to talk to another at such gatherings, and her private habit of smoking when that was unacceptable behavior for women--and the more conventional, sweet and docile May, whom he fears has no real depth.
He will learn much later how false this impression really is.
Manning this opulent Oscar-nominated effort is Martin Scorsese, who cameos as a wedding photographer, and gives bit parts to various members of his family, including his daughter, Domenica, whose Katie Blenker's mindless chatter with Newland reveals her to be a young lady typical of her time and social standing. Sian Phillips and Carolyn Farina portray Newland's dependant mother and sister, Jonathan Pryce is the Frenchman Riviere, Michael Gough and Alexis Smith play the King and Queen of New York Society, Henry and Louisa Van der Luyden, and Robert Sean Leonard plays the Archer's son.
Michael Baullhaus' cinematography is soft, natural, and glowing, and we are ultimately presented with a look into a bygone era of annual rituals of formality, subtle assaults on the psyches of those wishing to break free from them, and amid the unseen inner turmoil of some, a poignant underestimation of one woman's understanding of her husband's private, unexpressed anguish.
DVD Review: Martin Scorsese's Most Violent Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Martin Scorsese's film The Age of Innocence (1993) is an adaptation of a 1920 novel by Edith Wharton, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. Both, the novel and the film are set in upper class New York City in the 1870s.
The Age of Innocence is the movie that proves once again what a versatile talented, unpredictable, incredibly passionate, and artistically outstanding director Martin Scorsese is. Recently I saw for the first time Scorsese's comedy After Hours and was fascinated how masterful he was in creating a darkly funny surreal comedy. Now, after re-watching The Age of Innocence, I am sure that Scorsese has made one of the most beautiful, tragic, passionate, sensual, sexually charged screen romances ever, which is at the same time perfectly suitable for the whole family watching. It is PG rated, and the characters speak in refined, almost forgotten English. The director himself described The Age of Innocence as the "most violent" film he's ever made, clearly referring to the inner turmoil, disappointment and resignation the two main characters of this drama go through.
The material world Scorsese created and paints with his lenses is of incredible beauty. Michael Ballhaus' camera brings out the perfection of craftsmanship of every object it looks at: be it the costumes (Oscar statuette for Gabriella Pescucci who has dressed the heroes of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Der Name der Rose (1986), and Upon a Time in America (1984) to name a few), china, crystal, silver, flower arrangements, jewelry or furniture. The exquisite meals looked delicious and required a special food consultant who was mentioned in the film's credits. Or take for example these elegant leather ladies gloves with small buttons. Who would think that unbuttoning a glove on the hand of a beautiful woman slowly, tenderly, makes one of the most erotic scene ever filmed? The people who inhabited this world of beauty, comfort, and privilege seem the perfect happy creatures but not all is so perfect in the paradise. Two beautiful passionate people found love that could only happen once in a life time but the strict norms or society they live in and the unbending unwritten rules based on convention and hypocrisy they must obey won't permit them to follow their hearts freely, to fulfill their desire, and to be happy in that Age of Innocence. The cast is superb, and includes Daniel Day-Lewis, the film protagonist Newland Archer, Michelle Pfeiffer, as Countess Olenska, a woman with "a Past" who stole his heart, and very young Winona Ryder, May Welland, the girl whom Archer will marry. 22 years old Ryder very deservingly received the Oscar nomination for her performance. I would like to mention Joanne Woodward's subtle narrating of Edith Wharton's prose which is one of the high points of the film. IMO, the film has only high points and is Martin Scorsese fine (perhaps, the finest) and stunning achievement.
DVD Review: The Age of Boredom
Summary: 1 Stars
Martin Scorsese, usually a brilliant film-maker, has broken the cardinal rule of film-making: Thou Shall Not Bore the Audience.
This film is excruciatingly boring. There's no other way to state it. The pacing is slow, the dialogue without emotion, the story is thin and lifeless. Although beautifully filmed at times (check out the ornate dinner parties), and the actors appear competent, if not comfortable in their roles, there is no disguising that in this film, nothing happens. Nothing.
I have no problem with deliberately paced films with similar story lines, such as The Remains of the Day. However, with The Age of Innocence, the sum of the parts is significantly less than zero. A complete waste of two hours of my life.
DVD Review: Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I've always enjoyed this type of film, totally lacking in bang-up, crash 'em and slash 'em trash. It's intelligent, has depth and makes one think. I haven't read the original Edith Wharton novel since college many years ago but the film presents the period and characters well. It's another one to enjoy many times over.DVD Review: One of the worst movies I've ever seen
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this movie after reading some of the positive reviews. After seeing it, I am baffled at how anyone could possibly like this movie. I love Edith Wharton and The Age of Innocence is one of my favorite books, but this movie is awful. It is a hokey, boring attempt at bringing Wharton's beautifully written, Pulitzer Prize winning novel to film. From the laughable love scenes between the Countess and Newland Archer to the annonymous narrator that cuts in with background information to the strange lighting effects that make you think there is something wrong with your TV, this movie butchers a classic and puts good actors to shame. Don't waste your time and money on this!
Description of The Age of Innocence
Story of the manners and morals of New York society in the later 1800's, focusing on a handsome young lawyer who cannot decide between passion and propriety in his women.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 3-APR-2007
Media Type: DVD
Martin Scorsese does not sound like the logical choice to direct an adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel about manners and morals in New York society in the 1870s. But these are mean streets, too, and the psychological violence inflicted between characters is at least as damaging as the physical violence perpetrated by Scorsese's usual gangsters. At the center of the tale is Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis), a somewhat diffident young man engaged to marry the very respectable May Welland (Winona Ryder). But Archer is distracted by May's cousin, the Countess Olenska (a radiant Michelle Pfeiffer), recently returned from Europe. As a married woman seeking a divorce, the countess is an embarrassment to all of New York society. But Archer is fascinated by her quick intelligence and worldly ways. Scorsese closely observes the tiny details of this world and this impossible situation; this is a movie in which the shift of someone's eyes can be as significant as the firing of a gun. The director's sense of color has never been keener, and his work with the actors is subtle. That's Joanne Woodward narrating, telling us only as much as we need to know--which is one reason why the climax comes as such a surprise.--Robert Horton
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