Synopsis
In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
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Cast
- Daniel Day-LewisNewland Archer
- Michelle PfeifferEllen Olenska
- Winona RyderMay Welland
- Alexis SmithLouisa van der Luyden
- Geraldine ChaplinMrs. Welland
- Jonathan PryceRivière
- Richard E. GrantLawrence "Larry" Lefferts
- Alec McCowenSillerton Jackson
- Mary Beth HurtRegina Beaufort
- Stuart WilsonJulius Beaufort
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
I have seen love scenes in which naked bodies thrash in sweaty passion, but I have rarely seen them more passionate than in this movie, where everyone is wrapped in layers of Victorian repression. - 100
San Francisco Chronicle
Best “performances,'' however, are given by the movie's almost agonizingly beautiful historical settings -- luxurious households, rich architecture, furnishings, ornaments, draperies, fineries and such are often more captivating than the hushed tones of the lovers. [17 Sept 1993, Daily Notebook, p.C1] - 100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
It comes eerily close to duplicating the experience of reading while, at the same time, remaining very much a motion picture. That's a rare, perhaps even unprecedented, achievement. - 100
Chicago Tribune
A great, velvety, beautiful anachronism. It's a movie almost drunk on romance, literature and cinema, a splendid period picture that keeps rashly breaking rules and boundaries [17 Sept 1993, Friday, p.A] - 100
Los Angeles Times
A beautifully done adaptation of the novel, polished, elegant and completely cinematic. It is also a bit distant, a film that doesn't wear its feelings on its sleeve, but given the effects it's after, that would be counterproductive. [17 Sept 1993, Calendar, p.F-1] - 88
Rolling Stone
Day-Lewis is smashing as the man caught between his emotions and the social ethic. Not since Olivier in "Wuthering Heights" has an actor matched piercing intelligence with such imposing good looks and physical grace. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
Up through its first half, The Age of Innocence is a masterfully orchestrated tale of romantic yearning. - 70
Variety
Scorsese has met most of the challenges inherent in tackling such a formidable period piece, but the material remains cloaked by the very propriety, stiff manners and emotional starchiness the picture delineates in such copious detail.
