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The Age Of Innocence Details

1993 Certificate U
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 4641 members

An adaptation of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which chronicles the hypocrisy of high society in the 1880s and tells of three wealthy New Yorkers caught in a love triangle. Read more

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Richard E. Grant
Director Martin Scorsese
Genres Drama, Romance

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The Age Of Innocence

An adaptation of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which chronicles the hypocrisy of high society in the 1880s and tells of three wealthy New Yorkers caught in a love triangle.

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Richard E. Grant, Sian Phillips, Miriam Margolyes, Alec McCowen, Michael Gough
Director Martin Scorsese
Studio COLUMBIA TRI-STAR HOME VIDEO
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 12 mins
Certificate Certificate U
Genres Drama, Romance
Language DVD: English
Subtitles DVD: Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Released DVD: 15 Oct 2001
Production year: 1993
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (6) of The Age Of Innocence

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  • 1 stars out of 5

    A rising young lawyer in late 19th-century New York falls in love with a woman in the throes of a divorce. Prevented from marrying her by high society's moral constraints, he marries someone else, but continues to see his true love. John Boles and Irene Dunne, who made such a hit together in the wonderfully sudsy Back Street, star in this bowdlerisation of Edith Wharton's famous novel, which is reduced to a small-scale and dreary melodrama under the first-time direction of Philip Moeller. Those who know the novel and/or Martin Scorsese's superb film version should avoid it at all costs.

    • Radio Times
  • 2 stars out of 4

    A deft study of a repressed society with some effective set-pieces, let down by an insufficiently dramatized narrative; the emotional weight of the film is carried not by the actors, but by the voice-over, which severely limits its impact.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of The Age Of Innocence

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  • 17 out of 17 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Atmosphere and period glamour!

    This is a wonderfully intense depiction of New York society based on the novel by Edith Wharton.

    New York society is strictly governed by an unwritten set of rules regarding respectability and decorum; breaching the rules is totally inconceivable and will lead to disaster and social death. Michelle Pfeiffer's character returns to seek a divorce and her disregard for convention sends shockwaves through polite society.

    This film manages to convey the real and devastating impact of a mere look or an unspoken understanding. It builds an incredible atmosphere.

    Daniel Day-Lews, Winona Ryder and Michelle Pfieffer are exceptional in theo portrayal of the complexity of these characters who are so restricted in the expression of their emptions by the expectations of social convention.

    The settings and costumes are stunning and build the intense atmosphere beautifully - this film is a visual pleasure. It is a heartbreaking love story and has a wonderful twist at the end.

      • Hazel from London, SE5
  • Most recent members' review of The Age Of Innocence

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Picturesque, Prim & Proper Production.

    This was the costume drama to beat all costume dramas, with clothes, sets and a cast that should not have failed. The attention to detail was magnificent and the scenes were both memorable and artistic, certainly on a par with Lean or Kubrick.

    Martin Scorsese put a lot of TLC into this film about the social mores of nineteenth century New York Society. Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder and Miriam Margolyes all acted their socks off in their respective roles and the atmosphere they created was excellent.

    What seemed to be missing was the great passion that Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis) was supposed to be harbouring for his fiancée’s cousin. Lewis was very proper and constrained compared to his usual performances as an ardent lover. I was not made to believe that he truly suffered in his desperate, divided love for two different women.

    Therefore the net result, despite the great promises the Trailer had made, was quiet a lovingly packed and decorated box of sweets, but with a bland, ordinary taste in the mouth.

    Regretfully the lack of pace and some soporific screenplay let the film down in places but fortunately the damage was not terminal.

    The film is worth watching for the twist at the end alone, but the beautiful sets and classical soundtrack make the whole experience worthwhile in the end. A good film, however, unfortunately, not a great movie.

    Worth the money, just for the Waltzes alone, but what a waste of Lewis' talent!

      • Charles Brickley from Andover, Hampshire, England
  • News and features

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    Cape Fear

    Scorsese's daughter eyes a new movie with her dad

    • 25 Apr 2009

    Actress-turned-director Domenica Cameron-Scorsese is looking to team up with her legendary father Martin Scorsese on the big screen once more - so she can show off her skills as a filmmaker. Cameron-Scorsese was a star at 15 when the iconic moviemaker cast her in his 1991 thriller Cape Fear. She went on to land a role in his 1993 romantic drama The Age of Innocence, but the father-daughter pair have not worked together since. The 32-year-old admits she's keen to re-establish a professional... Read more

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Rating breakdown

4,641 Member ratings
  • 100
284
  • 90
241
  • 80
630
  • 70
736
  • 60
976
  • 50
558
  • 40
448
  • 30
302
  • 20
305
  • 10
161

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    • An adaptation of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which chronicles the hypocrisy of high society in the 1880s and tells of three wealthy New Yorkers caught in a love triangle....