The Age of Innocence (1993)
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The Age of Innocence Movie Review
The Age of Innocence is a 1993 historical romantic drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. It’s one of the director’s best and most underrated efforts.
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“How can we be happy behind
the backs of people who trust us?“
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A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman’s cousin. Based on the titular 1920 novel by Edith Wharton, this story also has many similarities to one of my favorite 19th century novels – ‘The Portrait of a Lady’. It’s all about the artifice of the Victorian Era/Gilded Age and how difficult love lives were for both sexes back then.
There is the theme of class presented here, especially the relationship between old and new money as well as the differences between the Old World and New World at large. The idea of American identity is also well explored. But above all else the movie is about forbidden romance and particularly the fact that back then people would rely on signals to tell their real emotions to one another as every act of honest confessing of emotions was frowned upon at the time or even entirely forbidden. This is a familiar theme, but it’s so well explored here that the movie became genuinely moving to watch.
Winona Ryder was the only one of the three actors to be nominated for an Oscar, which is ludicrous to me. She was so well cast as the girlish, demure woman who is also slightly manipulative when you think about it. However, the clear stars of the picture are Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis. Both of them deserved to be nominated, making for clear Oscar snubs.
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Pfeiffer has rarely been better than she was in the role of Countess Olenska. She sold the character’s emotional turmoil and just how hopeless her position throughout the story is. She was by far the most interesting part of this story. But Day-Lewis was also excellent in the main role and the movie was at its best when it focused on the protagonist’s anguish and torment. Their romance is so melancholic and heartbreaking, eventually leading to that wistful, very impactful ending that was simply perfect.
The main reason why The Age of Innocence is as terrific as it is lies in its highly cinematic quality. The fact that Scorsese had it in him to make what is essentially a woman’s picture and a romantic period piece is not just wild to me, but also very frustrating. I am annoyed by this revelation as it shows that he could have been much more diverse in his output had he chosen to do so, which is a shame that he didn’t. His directing here is fantastic and he brought this story from the page to the screen effortlessly well.
The score is fantastic, the costumes are naturally incredibly sumptuous and the sets are gorgeous. The movie is a technical marvel especially worthy of praise for its incredible cinematography. There are so many choices here that made sense within the context of the story and that elevated it wonderfully. The colors of the flowers fulfilling the screen made for a sensual viewing experience for one. Also, the moments where the focus on the protagonist was emphasized with the rest of the screen blurred perfectly fitted the character’s inner turmoil.
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The dialogue, characterization and acting performances are all excellent. The film is quite long, but you don’t feel the length due to its engaging narrative and superb storytelling. I just wished that we didn’t get so much narration. It was well done, but overwhelming. The supporting characters were also underwritten with the only exception being Miriam Margoyles, who was so memorable here.
A story about the artifice and many constraints of the 19th century society, The Age of Innocence is a deeply emotional and eventually quite touching romance that benefited from such a powerful ending. This is a wonderful literary story that is populated by well developed characters and a strong drama at its core, but it was elevated to the status of great cinema thanks to Scorsese’s deft direction, gorgeous sets and costumes, a great score and highly artistic cinematography with the focus and coloring effects being particularly effective. The performances from Day-Lewis and Pfeiffer were also outstanding. This is one of the best and most underrated Martin Scorsese movies. It would be regarded as his masterpiece had it not been so atypical and unusual for him.
My Rating – 4.5
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