The Age of Innocence

In 1870s New York the lawyer Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland. Everything shifts when May's cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, returns after fleeing her marriage in Europe. The two admit they love each other, and Ellen refuses to become his mistress and goes back to Europe. Martin Scorsese directed and adapted Edith Wharton's 1920 novel with Jay Cocks. Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder star. Michael Ballhaus shot it and Elmer Bernstein wrote the score. Nobody throws a punch, and it is not far from the rest of Scorsese's work: the violence here operates through invitation cards, seating arrangements and decisions nobody is told about. The method May uses to keep her husband is never spoken aloud. On a 34 million dollar budget it grossed 68 million worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 88 percent. It took five Academy Award nominations in all and won Best Costume Design, and Miriam Margolyes took a BAFTA in support. Who it is for: viewers who like period drama and feeling lived under pressure. Who it is not for: anyone expecting speed from Scorsese. It is slow, formal, and every decision is taken behind a closed door.