The Age of Innocence
(Martin Scorsese/US/1993/138mins)
There
have been love scenes in which naked bodies thrash in sweaty passion,
but rarely more passionate than in this movie, where everyone is
wrapped in layers of Victorian repression. The big erotic moments take
place in public among fully clothed people speaking in perfectly modulated
phrases, and they are so filled with libido and terror that the characters
scarcely survive them.
Scorsese, that artist of
headlong temperament, here exhibits enormous patience. We are provided
with the voice of a narrator (Joanne Woodward), who understands all that
is happening, guides us, and supplies the private thoughts of some of
the characters. We learn the rules of the society. We meet an elderly
woman named Mrs. Mingott (Miriam Margolyes), who has vast sums of money
and functions for her society as sort of an appeals court of what can
be permitted, and what cannot be.
With infinite care and attention,
May Welland defends her relationship with Newland Archer. May knows or
suspects everything that is happening between Newland and the Countess,
but she chooses to acknowledge only certain information, and works with
the greatest cleverness to preserve her marriage while never quite seeming
to notice anything wrong.
Each performance is modulated to preserve the delicate balance of the
romantic war. Daniel Day-Lewis stands at the centre, deluded for a time
that he has free will. Michelle Pfeiffer, as the countess, is a woman
who sees through society without quite rejecting it, and takes an almost
sensuous pleasure in seducing Archer with the power of her mind. At first
it seems that little May is an unwitting bystander and victim, but Winona
Ryder gradually reveals the depth of her character’s intelligence, and
in the last scene, all is revealed and much is finally understood.
Scorsese is known for his restless camera; he rarely allows a static shot.
But here you will have the impression of grace and stateliness in his
visual style, and only on a second viewing will you realize the subtlety
with which his camera incessantly moves, insinuating itself into conversations
like a curious uninvited guest. At the beginning of The Age of Innocence,
it seems to represent a world completely alien to us. By the end, we realize
these people have all the same emotions, passions, fears and desires that
we do. It is simply that they value them more highly, and are less careless
with them, and do not in the cause of self-indulgence choose a moment’s
pleasure over a lifetime’s exquisite and romantic regret.
The rich setting, which includes
some elaborate dining scenes, contributes to bringing the tensions to
screaming pitch.
in double bill with
When the Pie
was Opened
(Len Lye/Ministry of Food/UK/1941/8 mins)
An imaginative wartime recipe for a vegetable
pie – with blackbirds
Why not book for the Victorian
cookery demo to see historical recipes recreated before your eyes?
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