The Age of Innocence is an extravagantly woven and deftly narrated period romance, delving into issues of convention, class, and socially induced tensions through roses and kisses. In 1870s New York City, where rich, old high-society WASPs rule with unwritten social guidelines deeming ostracism if broken, lawyer Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) plans his marriage to WASP May Welland (Winona Ryder). Though able to blend in with the crowd, Archer detests these people; he hates conformity and the unnecessarily cruel punishments they harbor. Thus, when May’s cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, returns after divorcing a polish aristocratic and sleeping with his secretary, Archer assists in restoring her name and status in the community. He quickly falls in love with her unconventional nature—while May is lovely, she enjoys the mundane leisures that Archer despises. Thus this entangled trio, both with assistance from and in spite of older WASPs, engage in a love triangle that, like such high societies, “was balanced so precarious, that its harmony could be shattered by a whisper.”

Innocence pokes at the larger grievances and misgivings that such convoluted, self-interest-based social structures bare. Despite the dozens of detailed paintings, variety exquisite gowns and bottles of refined alcohol, one has to come from the right place, have a boatload of (most likely stolen) money, dress a certain way and interact uniquely with different people—or not at all if they’re not in such a (vain) group. Archer understands that from the get go, allowing it to drive his motivations and personality from the start despite appearances. For example, Countless Ellen’s own parents talk of the gossip she brought about their family, to which Archer says her gaining happiness back shouldn’t be shameful—the parents change the subject. Aside from the well-written complexities of the love triangle that unfolds, Innocence answers its title by showing these frankly stupid rich living issues nonetheless part of a larger human pattern: the more wealth and power taken from everyone else, the now rich and powerful will fight to complicate anyone else becoming equally or more powerful. Divorce, gendered roles, and familial background are all factors made to distract from the larger selfishness these same people allow. Human greed at its finest!

Thus, along with kinetic acting all around, eloquent sets, costumes and cinematography alike, lyrical writing and director Martin Scorsese’s solid grasp for human reactivity, The Age of Innocence is a dance of class and status as much as it is a bittersweet romance. For Scorsese fans, romance fans, and fans of any of this film’s stacked cast or themes, it will prove a revealing journey.

Screens in 4k DCP Sunday, 12/29, 12:00 & 3:00 pm @ The Brattle Theatre
Part of the ongoing repertory series: Columbia 100: Nineties Nostalgia