Very few exciting things happened in America during the end of the Victorian Era. The society of 1870 New York was centered around scandal, love, marriage, tea parties, vacations, clothes, and, of course, affairs. Edith Wharton's novel, The Age of Innocence very accurately portrays this era. The movie does an even better job, boring the audience enough to show how dull it truly was while simultaneously bringing characters the viewer becomes invested in.
When we first meet Archer and his bride to be May, we are instantly shown just how dull their lives are. They are courting through their families and have never really gotten a chance to see if things work. Regardless, Archer proposes. Soon after, May's cousin Ellen arrives and causes the controversy of the movie. Their love affair turns Ellen into the supposed villain, trying to seduce the innocent husband. Yet, for some reason, we still like Ellen. Why is this? Ellen plays a flawed woman who knows her flaws yet wants to be better. This is something most women can admit to and all women can relate to. Michelle Pfeiffer does a great job showing us this discontent with her self yet still holding on to the hope that change is possible.
Archer, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, shows the conflict from an even more heartbreaking point of view. He is in love with Ellen but loves May. He is always our main character and, therefore, the one we are supposed to agree with the most. Trouble is, it's hard to agree with someone's choice if they themselves cannot decide. Daniel Day-Lewis does a fantastic job showing this inner strife, this coming from a critic of most of his work.
May, played by Winona Ryder, is the average housewife. As a young girl, she aspires to marry someone like Archer, expecting it to be this romantic voyage two people take. Unfortunately, her marriage is not. The audience is compelled to pity her story yet we still feel more for Archer. Archer does not deserve our emotion because he is not only cheating on his wife, he is maintaining the affair behind her back for several years.
Martin Scorsese's piece has great lighting for the era. It appropriately shows the decor and clothing of the era. The horse drawn buggies in the movie seem as if they could be strolling down the street. New York is depicted as the calm before the modern storm it is today. The tension of the city accurately reflects upon the tension of the affair. Gossip, rampant in today's society with technology, was just as furious through word of mouth.
It is clear that much thought went into the production of this movie. Although it is nearly seventeen years old, the movie is still a piece shown in many classrooms as a lead in to modern literature. The frustration of the characters and depiction of the boring public lives led helps the movie viewer go back one hundred and thirty years to a time when living was dull. However, this movie shows us the insiders view of the truth behind the mask, of the evils of assumption, and the heart wrenching story of a man who made all the wrong decisions regarding love.
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