The Age of Innocence (1993) on Netflix
Newland Archer, a lawyer in New York, plans to marry May Welland. May's cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, returns to the city after a disastrous marriage, and society shuns her.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.2/1075,718 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes87%
Trailer
Plot summary
New York City in the 1870s is dominated by old-money families whose strict codes of conduct are enforced through ostracism. Newland Archer, a gentleman lawyer, plans a society marriage to May Welland. May's cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, comes back to the city after her marriage to a Polish count ended in disaster. The count had been unfaithful, and his secretary, Monsieur Riviere, helped her leave him. Society considers her conduct scandalous and ostracizes her, and Archer is indignant at the unfair treatment.
Cast
- John McLoughlinas Party Guest
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Age of Innocence (1993)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Scorsese dedicated the film to his father, who died the month before it was released, and both his parents have cameo appearances in the film.
- Day-Lewis' sister, Tamasin Day-Lewis, has a cameo admiring May's engagement ring, a last minute addition after Scorsese's then-partner Illeana Douglas had to drop out when producer-director Frank Marshall insisted his cast be on-location throughout entire principal photography on Alive.
- The film's title sequence was created by Elaine and Saul Bass, its visual symphony of blooming roses and lace the result of Bass's fascination with time-lapse photography, while the bursts of color employed as a fade out were inspired by Michael Powell's Black Narcissus and Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.
- The scenes set in the home of Mrs. Mingott were filmed in "The Castle", a fraternity house at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; formerly known as the Paine Mansion, it was heralded after its completion in 1896, at a then-estimated cost of $500,000, as the grandest house in all of Troy.
- Scorsese's friend and screenwriter Jay Cocks gave him the Wharton novel in 1980, suggesting that this should be the romantic piece Scorsese should film, as Cocks felt it best represented his sensibility.
- The Age of Innocence gave director Jamie Babbit her start in the business: she began her career as an intern for Scorsese on the film.
