Negative capability

This past weekend I watched "The Age of Innocence," Martin Scorsese's 1993 adaptation of the classic "Gilded Age" novel. I hadn't seen it since its first release 15 years ago. I liked it quite a lot at the time. Very restrained, tense, subdued. At first, the director of "Goodfellas" and "Raging Bull" might not seem like a natural partner for Edith Wharton, but I thought that the two social observers were really quite well suited for one another. "The Age of Innocence" is very much a New York piece, and Scorsese is certainly the king of New York movies. (Woody Allen is in the court, too; I just don't think he's in the royal family.)

"The Age of Innocence" captures the glittering banality of the lives of the social elite - which I dare say has probably not changed much in 130 years. Scorsese brilliantly captures the material details of Fifth Avenue mansions: banks of flowers, fragile fine china, hordes of bric-a-brac, things things things.

Daniel Day-Lewis is excellent in the film as the repressed and unhappy Newland Archer. Duh. And his soft American accent is very believable. Is there anything that Day-Lewis can't do?

Michelle Pfeiffer had a good look going on in the film, but I don't think she was the right person cast for Countess Olenska. I didn't think she was sophisticated (in a moderately Euro-trash manner) enough.

But Winona Ryder gives a brilliantly subtle and scary portrayal of a manipulatively sweet young American schemer who traps Archer in a loveless marriage. I've known plenty of people like that (not to mention any names - like JDA).

I know that some people criticized Scorsese in this film for relying so heavily on an "outside narrator" to express Edith Wharton's sardonic commentary. But I love Joanne Woodward's voice - she's perfect. I wonder if I could get an entire "book-on-tape" of Miss Woodward reading "The Age of Innocence" - or some other Wharton novel?

Here's a little trivia question about "The Age of Innocence": What popular 19th century opera is featured in the opening AND closing scenes of the movie? It certainly fits the theme of the film, which is essentially about people who have lost their souls in pursuit of material prosperity.