Wonder Book Classic Film Series: The Age of Innocence (1993)

Directed by Martin Scorsese, The Age of Innocence is a visually rich and emotionally restrained adaptation of Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. Set in the tightly regulated world of 1870s New York high society, the film explores themes of duty, reputation, and forbidden love. With lavish costumes, meticulous production design, and a haunting score, this period drama offers a powerful look at the personal cost of adhering to social convention.
A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman’s cousin. Society scion Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his well-ordered life is upset when he meets May’s unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. At first, Newland becomes a defender of the Countess, whose separation from her abusive husband makes her a social outcast in the restrictive high society of late 19th Century New York, but he finds in her a kindred spirit and they fall in love.
RATING: PG
RUNTIME: 2 hours, 19 minutes
GENRE: Period Drama, Drama, Romance
STARS: Michelle Pfeiffer, Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder