The Age of Innocence (1993)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
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5 films that influenced The Age of Innocence
What critics say influenced The Age of Innocence
The critical hosannas for Scorsese's drastic-change-of-pace romance (it came right after his hyperbolic thriller Cape Fear) don't match up with what he puts on the screen.
Their " Howards End ," " A Room with a View " and " The Bostonians " know this world.
Violently expressed emotions, senseless brutality, the Mean Streets of modern-day New York, and other staples of director Martin Scorsese's films are traded in for muted passions, rigid etiquette, and the Innocence of 1870s New York in his latest film, The Age of Innocence, a spellbinding, Oscar-worthy tale of forbidden love in the nineteenth century.
It would seem to be material of no interest to Martin Scorsese, a director of great guilts and energies, whose very titles are a rebuke to the age of innocence: " Mean Streets ," " Taxi Driver ," " Raging Bull ," " GoodFellas ."
He really outdoes himself with tis film, proving that he can do more than stage his trademark urban dramas such as GoodFellas and Taxi Driver.
The color of things hasn't been this texturally worshiped in years: In one memorable, ravishing scene, Pfeiffer -- caught in an amber splash of sunshine -- admires yellow roses sent to her by Day-Lewis, as the camera circles rhapsodically around her. Known primarily for modern street pictures, such as "Taxi Driver" and "GoodFellas," Scorsese shows he can flex an entirely different set of muscles and still make a great movie.
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Like "Raging Bull," "GoodFellas" and other Martin Scorsese films, "The Age of Innocence" is about the tyranny of the culture over the individual and the rites that preserve the tribe, be it the Mafia or a coterie of 19th-century snobs.
And this change-of-pace, PG-rated adult drama from "Raging Bull"-"Taxi Driver"-"GoodFellas" director Martin Scorsese proves to be everything the early hype has indicated a mesmerizing, artistic and highly entertaining piece of work from one of our foremost filmakers.
It would seem to be material of no interest to Martin Scorsese, a director of great guilts and energies, whose very titles are a rebuke to the age of innocence: " Mean Streets ," " Taxi Driver ," " Raging Bull ," " GoodFellas ."
On the surface, one would be hard-pressed to find a story more unlike Raging Bull or Goodfellas than The Age of Innocence, which seems better suited to a Merchant-Ivory production.
But even if such a claim were true, Scorsese’s place in cinema history is entrenched, not only for a handful of recognized masterpieces (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and certainly Raging Bull) and a fascinating assortment of underrated minor classics (After Hours, The Age of Innocence, and Kundun, among others), but also for his unrivalled cinephilia and dedication to film preservation.