Plot: What’s it about?
After the widescreen triumph of Cape Fear, director Martin Scorsese looked to adapt a classic novel to screen and he looked to work it with the same studio but when Universal asked for a lesser budget, the support came from Columbia to make his film. From an tale of forbidden love and the high class of early 19th century New York, Scorsese scores his first collaboration with Daniel Day Lewis and a cast of many to a time of the costumes and the manners. It was a time for arrangement and The Age of Innocence.
Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis) is a lawyer who has been invited to an opera ball. There he views along the woman who he’s engaged to, May Welland (Winona Ryder) and her cousin the Countess Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer) in the same box. It seems that the Countess is looking to move forward to divorce the Count which the society frowns upon and her view from the others are not taken well even when invitations to an occasion in her honor are not honored themselves. Newland takes a stand and wants to help her in her proceedings but within those lay a love for her that both try to sort amongst their lives.
When it comes to genres, this viewer is not one for costume dramas, but with that in mind in the hands of Scorsese, this is a spectacular looking, ambitious and creative effort with all tricks such as irises and circles on used greatly to illustrate some wonderful scenes amongst all the principles in this film. Many plusses go to the cinematography and set direction done beautifully by Dante Ferretti and Michael Ballhaus in what is the second in the turning on the lights to the scene trilogy (the others being The Last Waltz and The Aviator).
The acting by all is superb with solid performances by all three main principles juggling the emotions of guilt, lust, secrets, manipulation and betrayal all in one. It’s also a huge reminder to me how much I miss the great work of Michelle Pfeiffer as she gives a stirring performance in this one. Look for director Scorsese in a key cameo as a photographer as well. On top of that is the second of three title designs by Elaine and Saul Bass that work so well with Elmer Bernstein’s superb score.
When I had first viewed this in high school, I didn’t know much what to make of it, but as this viewer matured, films that might have been passed off as dry fare were given another chance and worthy of good advice to all up and coming filmgoers out there.
This is a happy surprise and another reminder as to why Martin Scorsese is still one of our best filmmakers as he can tackle any subject matter and do justice with it cinematically. The use of color and setting makes this for one of the best shot movies I’ve ever seen and another solid effort by Scorsese to add to the long list of wonderful scope presentations. The Age of Innocence is one for the ages and has a flow like no other keeping in tune with creative shots, narration and an approach unlike any other.
Video: How does it look?
The Age of Innocence does a key thing on this DVD and that’s maintain the anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen image. In the past, video has done no justice to this film with it’s bright colors and beauty capturing the time period very nicely. The transfer used for this DVD has only one or two white specks amongst a few of the darker scenes but the overall result retains the gorgeous look of the film and really takes advantage of every camera shot without over bleeding or oversaturation. A very nice job.
Audio: How does it sound?
With the solid transfer of this film, the same can be said for the Dolby Digital 5.1 track that utilizes the nominated score of Elmer Bernstein and some of the little effects of the piece throughout the outer channels. Every bit of dialogue come out clearly throughout all channels as well as the wails of the operas that are featured in the film as well. A pin drops and you are there for this Age has a very nice track to go along with it’s transfer. This disc also has a English and French Dolby Surround track along with English, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The Age of Innocence has a sparse set of extras with filmographies of the director and main cast along with the theatrical trailer and trailers of other titles such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Sense and Sensibility and Gandhi.
Here’s a viewer’s wish that this title will get revisited with a great Scorsese documentary/commentary by other players as this marks another gem for Scorsese. The Age of Innocence is a beautiful masterpiece that many should see both Scorsese and non-Scorsese fans alike for it gives a little more than just the average costume drama. It gives a lot of interest and intrigue along the way for everyone to follow.
