Review of The Age of Innocence (1993) by Sabrina I — 16 Feb 2011

'The Age of Innocence' is an elegantly filmed drama with some beautiful photography, it's one of the best photographed period films. Each image, each character movement means something..adds another layer to this rich story.

The plot is a typical love story but beneath that lies much more. The film is set in a society where there's unspoken rules. It dictates how one walks, talks, eats..basically lives. Our two main characters Archer and Ellen Olenska do not fit into this society, they both are more free-spirited, independent thinkers who don't always follow those unspoken rules - infact I think at times Ellen wasn't even aware she was breaking a rule.

That is why these two are so attracted to eachother - they understand eachother while the people around them don't. Archer doesn't share this understanding with his fiancee, May. There is a disconnect there.

Though he respects her, that intense love that he feels for Ellen is missing. He doesn't feel like the society around him that Ellen should be punished for leaving her husband. He thinks that women should be free.

In one scene, Archer tells his collegue that he feels that his wife would be his equal. That was quite different from what the other men felt about women. Clearly, Archer and Ellen and even May are victims of the world that they live in.

Where there's one dinner party after another but a world where one's desires and freedom's are suppressed. The film is quite a tragedy. Daniel Day Lewis gives a marvelous performance, we sense the torment that he is going through inside and we feel for him.

His scenes with Michelle Pfeiffer are intense and gripping. Pfeiffer is also quite a standout. Her character is shown less, so we drawn to her more because there's mysterious quality to her character and sensuality as well.

Overall, this is one of Scorsese's best efforts. Well worth watching over and over even if only to bask in it's visual glory.