The Age of Innocence (1993)

	Directed by: Martin Scorsese	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama/Romance NORWEGIAN TITLE Uskyldens tid RUNNING TIME 139 minutes
	Produced by: Barbara De Fina
	Written by (based on the novel by Edith Wharton): Jay Cocks Martin Scorsese

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Newland Archer	Daniel Day-Lewis	½
Ellen Olenska	Michelle Pfeiffer
May Welland	Winona Ryder	½
Mrs. Mingott	Miriam Margolyes
Mrs. Welland	Geraldine Chaplin	-
Henry van der Luyden	Michael Gough	-
Larry Lefferts	Richard E. Grant	-
Regina Beaufort	Mary Beth Hurt	-
Ted Archer	Robert Sean Leonard	½
Mr. Letterblair	Norman Lloyd	-
Sillerton Jackson	Alec McCowen	-
Mrs. Archer	Siân Phillips	-
Riviére	Jonathan Pryce	-
Julius Beaufort	Stuart Wilson	-
The Narrator	Joanne Woodward	-

Review

Martin Scorsese's dissection of unfulfilled love in an era and class where strict social codes and etiquette took precedence over emotion is a beautifully shot film that is as elegantly measured as it is emotionally constrained. This is a character and social study more than a story; the slow-burning, understated scenes of hush-hush gossip and bypassed inclinations give The Age of Innocence the intended sense of frustration and longing. When you yearn for the characters to open up and liberate themselves, you likely do it just as much on your own behalf – just so you won't have to sit through another ceremonious dinner with the Wellands. That being said, it's uplifting to see Scorsese step out of his comfort zone and challenge himself with a genre he wasn't familiar with. His best achievement here is his meticulous recreation of 1870s New York City – more or less without anachronisms – and how he lets his confined characters come to life through their small, subdued glances and miens. He elicits fine performances from his main cast, especially Daniel Day-Lewis as Newland Archer and Winona Ryder as his young conformist wife, May. There's a particularly powerful scene in which May kneels down in front of her husband and relays the news of her first pregnancy to him – their faces happy; their demeanours wrought by their sealed destinies. Also featuring elegant cinematography by Michael Ballhaus and a wonderful score by Elmer Bernstein.