The Age of Innocence
Short description
In 1870s New York, Newland Archer is a respected lawyer engaged to May Welland, a young woman of his own social class. His orderly prospects are unsettled by the arrival of May's cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, who has left her husband abroad and returned home to a society that disapproves of both her separation and her independent manner. Although Newland's marriage to May moves ahead, he finds himself drawn to Ellen, and his family's expectation that he help steer her away from divorce complicates his position. He must weigh the life laid out for him against the possibility of something else.
Martin Scorsese directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Jay Cocks, and Barbara De Fina produced. The film is the eighteenth of the thirty-eight features Scorsese has directed, arriving between Cape Fear and Casino. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Newland, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Ellen and Winona Ryder plays May, with Alexis Smith, Geraldine Chaplin and Jonathan Pryce among the credited cast of forty-five.
The production cost 34 million US dollars and took about 32 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2 out of 10 from roughly 74,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7 out of 10 from some 1,252 votes. A critics' rating of 7.6 out of 10 from 64 reviews places it slightly above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Jay Cox gave the novel (1920) by Edith Wharton (1862-1937) on which this film (1993) was based to its director and his friend Martin Scorsese back in 1980, but the latter did not read the book until seven years later.
- While working on the image of Newland Archer, Daniel Day-Lewis registered at the Plaza Hotel under the name Archer and lived there for two weeks, without changing the wardrobe his character would wear.
- The film is dedicated to Charles Scorsese, the director's father, who passed away shortly before the film's release. Both he and the director's mother appeared in the film in cameo roles.
- The film was originally slated for release in 1992, but the premiere was delayed by more than a year to give Martin Scorsese sufficient time in the editing room.
- Martin Scorsese agreed with 20th Century Fox to co-write the screenplay with Jay Cocks. The studio approved a project budget of $32 million, but at the last moment backed down, citing a lack of funds. Universal then stepped in, but offered only $30 million. In the end, Columbia, for whom Scorsese had filmed 'Goodfellas' (1990), came forward and offered the full amount requested.
- The interior of the heroine's house, played by Miriam Margolyes, was filmed in a dormitory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the city of Troy, New York, which housed 35 people at the time. Filming took about three weeks, but took place during school hours. Only the second floor was used for filming, and residents were instructed to remain very quiet or leave during the filming. Composite shots were used for the shots of the solitary building standing on top of a small hill, as the dormitory is surrounded on all sides by other buildings.
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