List Price: $14.94You Pay Only: $9.99 You Save: $4.95 (33%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767848947
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767848942
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: November 06, 2001
Running Time: 138 minutes
Sales Rank: 3362
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1993
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Martin Scorsese does not sound like the logical choice to direct an adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel about manners and morals in New York society in the 1870s. But these are mean streets, too, and the psychological violence inflicted between characters is at least as damaging as the physical violence perpetrated by Scorsese's usual gangsters. At the center of the tale is Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis), a somewhat diffident young man engaged to marry the very respectable May Welland (Winona Ryder). But Archer is distracted by May's cousin, the Countess Olenska (a radiant Michelle Pfeiffer), recently returned from Europe. As a married woman seeking a divorce, the countess is an embarrassment to all of New York society. But Archer is fascinated by her quick intelligence and worldly ways. Scorsese closely observes the tiny details of this world and this impossible situation; this is a movie in which the shift of someone's eyes can be as significant as the firing of a gun. The director's sense of color has never been keener, and his work with the actors is subtle. That's Joanne Woodward narrating, telling us only as much as we need to know--which is one reason why the climax comes as such a surprise.--Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - ON MY TOP FIVE LIST OF MY FAVORITE FILMS
I did my senior research paper on the original Edith Wharton novel, and the film is so faithful to her original language and vision that I was nearly knocked backward by the brilliance of this ravishingly intoxicating film. All of the symbolism of the novel is here, including the colors and flowers associated with May and Ellen respectively. Whenever I read the novel, I always see Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day Lewis as the ill-fated lovers in my mind, and I very much wish that Michelle Pfeiffer had been been honored with the Oscar for Best Actress for what is very much her finest performance to date. Besides Pfeiffer and Lewis, the rest of the cast is spell-bindingly brilliant, without a weak link in sight. All in all, this is the most faithful adaptation of a novel ever put on film, and the most visually breathtaking with what is one of the best scores ever composed for a film. The costumes in themselves are works of art, and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was thoroughly deserved. I thoroughly believe that if it hadn't been released the same year as Schindler's List, it would have won Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress hands down. I just wish more people knew about this masterwork from one of the most brilliant directors still left in Hollywood. Wharton, had she been present, would have applauded the film version of her brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning novel enthusiastically.
Rating: - A Breathtaking Departure for Scorsese
More renowned for his action and crime films, "The Age of Innocence" just happens to my favorite of Scorsese's works. It isn't perfect, but it's very, very good. Based on the eponymous novel by the great American writer, Edith Wharton, the film exposes the unwritten but ironclad social mores, and their attendant hypocrisies, of upper-class New York society in the late nineteenth century. Therefore, this film required the director to make his points in a subtler manner than we are accustomed to seeing from Scorsese. On that score (subtlety), I know some Wharton fans who were outraged by Scorsese's imposition of the voiceover (beautifully handled by Joanne Woodward) throughout the film, but this didn't bother me.
The film's central character is Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis), a respected lawyer and member of one of New York City's oldest and best-connected families. Although Newland harbors a more questioning view of his social circle than its other denizens, he feels his membership in this circle strongly enough to honor what he feels are the best of its traditions. His recent engagement to May Welland (Winona Ryder), a fresh, pretty, and irreproachable young girl from a family exactly like his own, expresses Archer's solidarity with those traditions. May is unimaginative and, in her demure way, extremely controlling, but Archer does not seem to expect a wife who embodies all May's virtues, yet shares his interest in art and books, and who can also join him in privately questioning ... Read More
Rating: - SIX STARS
One of Martin Scorcese's best, and that's saying a lot. Reams could be written about it; the costumes, sets, even the plates of food - the controlled, seething passion of Daniel Day-Lewis. This is his best since "The Incredible Lightness of Being". Another book turned into great film. I loved every moment, word, breath. Truly captures Wharton's book. And the flavor of early New York City, at least it's upper crust. Much credit should be given to Winona Ryder here. A very nuanced performance. Watch her face.
Rating: - Scorsese's beautifully filmed AGE OF INNOCENCE
We often forget that long before THE DEPARTED,THE AVIATOR and GANGS OF NEW YORK, director Martin Scorsese and the same crew made a sumptuous and beautifully intoxicating THE AGE OF INNOCENCE in 1993.This film is so intricate with each little detail that to revisit it from time to time is to savour,marvel and appreciate a true work of art of the highest degree.The story,set in the 1870's about the cutthroat world of New York High Society is not just another period piece costume drama; but rather a look into the makings and trappings of the wealthy elite.As a huge fan of Scorsese's films, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE is arguably his most passionate film.WARNING: no one gets killed and there are no guns!...but as Scorsese loves to film about his favorite subject, his beloved New York City, here he draws inspiration from the Edith Wharton novel in order to illustrate the "other side of the coin" to the ultra-violent THE GANGS OF NEW YORK. These two films together capture a good look at Scorsese's enigmatic city.
Apart from the repressed love,suppressed sexuality,convention and ridicule that is at the heart of this story (which may bore some to tears), THE AGE OF INNOCENCE is filled with the outstanding cinematography of Michael Ballhaus (THE DEPARTED, GANGS OF NEW YORK,GOODFELLAS,LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST); production design by Dante Ferretti (THE AVIATOR,KUNDUN,TITUS and the upcoming SWEENEY TODD); a soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein (FAR FROM HEAVEN,WILD,WILD WEST,TRADING PLACES); and an Oscar win for costumes ... Read More
Rating: - Such a beautiful film...
I really enjoyed this movie. I watched it after I read the novel and it really made it come to life before my eyes. They story's wonderful, of course, but I really loved the intricate costumes and lavish sets.
Browse for similar items by category:
|
