Rent The Age of Innocence (1993)

Pride & Prejudice on the East Coast of the USA in the 1870s - The Age of Innocence review by Philip in Paradiso

The story takes place in 1870s New York City and other places along the East Coast of the USA. There are 3 key characters. The 1st one is a gentleman lawyer, Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis); the 2nd is the highly respectable and very pretty May Welland (Winona Ryder), who comes from a good family of the East Coast upper class, like Newland Archer: Newland is due to marry her and they are in love. The 3rd key character is May's cousin, an American heiress known as Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). She has returned to New York from abroad, after a failed and, according to some, scandalous marriage to a Polish aristocrat. Newland Archer is caught between the 2 women. Which one is he going to choose? This is, in essence, what the film is about.

The story is, to a large extent and unusually for a film about America, about the class system in the USA. As the film shows, there is - or there was - what a British audience would very easily recognise as a fairly rigid class system in place at the time: social stratification, status, etiquette, propriety, snobbishness, arranged (or semi-arranged) marriages, etc. - all these elements are present in the film, as it depicts the East Coast élite in the late 19th century. The atmosphere in the privileged milieu central to the movie is rendered very well - stifling, controlled, controlling and claustrophobic. Those Americans are more Victorian than the Victorians: it is 'Downton Abbey' in New York City before 1900. In fact, the story made me think of Balzac's novels as well as of 'Pride and Prejudice', by Jane Austen. It is as if Western Europe had been transplanted over to North America... The rigid social norms that are in place create huge tensions within the characters' lives, when love and lust erupt, upsetting the established social order, while forcing individuals to choose between their happiness and their duty to society, to their social class and to their family.

On many levels, the film is very good. The dialogues are witty, sharp, perceptive and amusing. The costumes and settings are simply sumptuous, and both Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder radiate beauty. The only problem is that the pace of the story is deliberative, descriptive and demonstrative - not quite laborious (this would be unfair) but slow. Not so much happens, in fact. This has to do with the nature of the story and the characters, to a large extent: a lot is left unsaid. But, as a result, there is something stilted and perhaps even frustrating about the film. This is, maybe, deliberate.

If you like period films and romantic intrigues, you will enjoy the movie thoroughly, even though it may not quite be the masterpiece it is obviously trying to be, and many critics have claimed it is.

A stunningly shot film, beautifully remastered in 4K, about politics in high society - The Age of Innocence review by Timmy B

Daniel Day-Lewis's first collaboration with Martin Scorsese was one which, had it been anyone else who asked the famously selective actor to star, almost certainly never have happened. Day-Lewis himself commented many years later "Too English, but Scorsese was a damn good reason to say yes." And he is excellent in a film which is as much about the style, mise-en-scene & costumes as it is about the actual story.

Newland Archer lives in 1870's New York City. A Gentleman lawyer, he is in the centre of the social scene made up of the most powerful families in New York, where status & appearance are everything. He is planning a society marriage to May Welland, a good-natured and genuine woman from another of the powerful families. However, there is the brewing threat of scandal when May's cousin, Ellen Olenska, appears, fleeing a failed marriage due to her husband's infidelity & her subsequent affair with her secretary. Whilst initially asked to advise Ellen in his capacity as a lawyer, Newland quickly falls for the fearless & uncompromising Ellen.

As much as for me the story was not something which I found always compelling, I was absolutely in love with what was on screen in front of me. It is an exquisite & beautiful film, shot to perfection & in terms of cinematography, there is in many ways nothing quite like it. Scorsese, along with DP Michael Ballhaus, have created a sumptuous & spectacular feast for the eyes. From the luxury of the dinner parties to the outdoor archery competition, the cinematography, as well as the mise-en-scene, is flawless. It absolutely blows my mind that Ballhaus was not nominated for an Oscar for his work, but it deservedly won Best Costume Design.

Performance-wise, whilst this might not be in the same league as the headline grabbing performances of Christy Brown, Bill the Butcher or Daniel Plainview, his performance of Newland Archer is a study in quiet, almost internal self-destruction. At many points, you see the burden that he has to carry manifest itself internally, with it looking like his entire being is being consumed from the pain & love he feels, along with the realisation that to act on what he feels would have catastrophic consequences for everyone.

Pfeiffer is equally brilliant, fully making us buy into not only the plight of Ellen but also the absolute scorn she feels for the society rules which in no way is she going to play by, as well as the joy of living her own life on her terms. Ryder as May is also excellent, as the woman who on the surface seems naïve but below is not only fighting her own battles, but knows exactly what is happening around her.

As much as I am not a big fan of costume dramas, this is a rare treat which looks stunning with exceptional acting.

Incredibly boring - The Age of Innocence review by CP Customer

We couldn't bear more than about 40 minutes of this. The acting was poor, the plot very bland and the topic extremely dull. If you enjoy period dramas about rich people going to the opera and dinners then obviously you will feel differently about watching this. But I have to say it wasn't for us.