Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Mention classic author Edith Wharton and filmmaker Martin Scorsese in the same sentence, and most of you will reply, "No way!" Genteel, class-conscious, and graceful upper class society in New York meets a violent, gun toting, Taxi Driver? The mind boggles. When I first saw this, I did not have any sort of idea of what I was in for. Would Wharton's classic novel be trashed before my eyes?

What I got when I first sat down was images of blooming hothouse flowers, tuxedo clad attendee's at Gounoud's opera Faust, and written words in a graceful script. Right there, I was caught, and I didn't want to leave. Nor was I disappointed. We enter the world of young businessman Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis), whose life is far removed from the slums of New York, a life that cycles between dinner with his mother (Sian Philips) and sister Janey (Carolyn Farina) and the occansional business associate; the social whirl of upper class New York made up of galas and evenings at the theatre, and his young, child-like fiancee May Welland (Winona Ryder). It's a predictable life, one where his future is more or less written for him, and the only novelty that he can expect is the regular shipment of books from London.

And on the night that he and May announce their engagement, he meets a distant cousin, Ellen, the exotic Countess Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer) who has returned to New York after tentatively separating, but not divorcing, her husband. Newland is immediately drawn to her, his emotional falling for her clear for the audience to see, but not himself. He merely sees things as his duty to a woman in distress, and continues on with his engagement with May.

All the way through this film, I kept wondering why this poor man didn't declare his passion for the sophisticated Ellen, as opposed to May, but that of course would not do in polished society. And that's the twist, and plot of this film, we get to see the emotions of everyone here, buried deep under the roles that society is forcing them to maintain at all costs.

The three leads, Lewis, Pfeiffer and Ryder, simply shine in their roles, with plenty of sparkle and wit to their characters and lots of frustrated passion. I will never look at a woman's glove quite the same way again. The secondary characters are also vivid, with Richard E. Grant playing an icy, class-conscious Larry Lefferts, arbiter of all that is socially correct, Stuart Wilson and Mary Beth Hurt in the parts of the Beauforts, social parvenus that are a thinly disguised version of the Vanderbilts, and especially Miriam Margolyes as the very wealthy Mrs. Mingott, with her art filled home and array of pampered Pomeranians. Each of these have a part to play in the unfolding drama.

One of the best parts of this film was the attention to period detail in the clothing and manners of the period. Even the music is drawn from the melodies of the time, with Strauss at the ballroom sequence at the opening, popular society tunes, and nothing that sounded out of place. Even the insertion of new age artist Enya's "Marble Halls" in one part fit. Throughout the film we get a lesson in the manners and styles of the period. Sometimes it bogs down a bit, but all in all, it works.

Unless you've either read the novel, or like costume drama, most viewers will find this one difficult to sit through however. This movie is subtle, and unlike most, you're not going to see a lot of declaiming or bodice ripping going on. Instead, we get a picture of a time that was already long gone by the time Edith Wharton penned her novel, there's a few inaccuracies here and there, but it is still a feast for the eyes and ears, and all of the cast pulled it off marvelously, which is why I gave it a high rating.

For those curious as to how the look of the movie was achieved and the novel adapted, there is a wonderful large companion volume to this book available, which I've reviewed elsewhere on epinions.

Nominated for many Oscars, and Winona Ryder won that year's Best Supporting Actress award for the film.

Other novels by Edith Wharton that have been made into film versions lately: Ethan Frome; The House of Mirth; The Reef (released as Passion's Way here in the US) and The Buccaneers, which was turned into a BBC miniseries.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older