The Age of Innocence (1993)

Wealthy lawyer Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) is engaged to sweet socialite May Welland (Winona Ryder) in 1870s New York. On the surface, it is a perfect match. But when May’s beautiful cousin Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is estranged from her brutish husband, arrives in town, Newland begins to question the meaning of passion and love as he desperately pursues a relationship with Ellen, even though she has been made a social outcast by Archer’s peers.

Joanne Woodward’s narration is soothing without ever being folksy, while the closing scene, a shattering portrait of unbearable poignancy and regret, remains one of Scorsese’s strongest endings…

Times

A sumptuous motion picture, a feast for the senses.

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