Last night I was interested in seeing a mega-picture, and I selected The
Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton's novel, directed by Martin Scorsese and staring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. What I saw was a masterpiece. All components of The Age of Innoncence are superb. Few movies can you watch and enjoy at so many levels. However such films are not for everyone, and if you lack an appreciation for subtlety then you may want to see something else.
Michelle Pfeiffer plays Ellen Olenska, a neo-feminist who flees from her failing European marriage to the home of her blood relatives in 1870's New York society. She has been away for most of her life and the States are foreign to her, but she quickly realizes that she is viewed as threat. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Newland Archer, an up-and-rising patriarch who sees something in her that no one else in his rich circle could offer him: an independent viewpoint to life. As a lawyer and a powerful member of his family, he bravely tries to protect Ellen from basically everyone, especially members of their own family. Despite all of her difficulties, Countess Olenska refuses to part from her individuality: she smokes in front of Newland, does not hide from men in social situations, and criticizes her surroundings. Archer doesn't necessarily fall in love with her as a person but with what she represents: Romanticism and escape.
There is a lot to like about this film, which is more like a piece of art than a movie. Every scene and every bit of dialogue denotes elegance and brutality simultaneously. I highly recommend this movie.