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Columbia Pictures
Not part of a collection.
In a world of tradition. In an age of innocence. They dared to break the rules.
In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
CinemaSerf
Jun 19, 2025 · via TMDB
I can’t help but think the praise this gets is as much to do with Martin Scorsese venturing far from his usual style of violent, gritty, drama onto the manicured lawns more readily frequented by Merchant Ivory. Though he does it well enough, this story of New York high society takes a very long time to get to exactly where we expect it to get to, and along the way the tedium of it’s, frequently unrequited, love triangle(s) make heavy going to watch. It’s all about lawyer “Newland” (Daniel Day-Lewis) who is affianced to “May” (Winona Ryder) but seemingly way more intoxicated by her cousin, the “Countess Olenska” (Michelle Pfeiffer) who has fled from an abusive marriage in Europe as the nineteenth century comes to a close. Though it may not actually be set in Victorian Britain, it’s fair to say the the societal expectations, snobberies and double-standards are just as prevalent and hypocritical here too and though a countess she may be, a divorced one will still be shunned and shamed by the likes of matriarch “Mrs. Mingott” (Miriam Margolyes). “Newland” initially feels obliged to stand in her corner a little - out of a sense of loyalty to his future wife’s family, but of course the more they interact the more a predicable relationship develops. “May”, meantime, isn’t impervious to her beau’s change in affections but is not entirely sure in which direction they are now pointing, and so the seeds are now sown for a story of love, lust, betrayal and quite possibly sadness, too. It does look good with all the costumes, stately houses and production design delivering a classy product - but for my money, a product is exactly what it is. There isn’t a scintilla of chemistry between DD-L and anyone, really, and Pfeiffer delivers her lines as if she were rehearsing for an Oscar Wilde stage play. Ryder only features sparingly but she does inject a semblance of decent vulnerability to the proceedings and both Margolyes and Geraldine Chaplin add a little extra class to the proceedings, albeit in rather set-piece scenes, as it trundles along - but this is a story we’ve seen or read many times before, just transferred to a new city where the elite behave just as they would in London or Paris or Vienna, only without the titles and the provenance. Perhaps because we Brits are weaned on period drama, it’s harder to see the wood for the trees but for me this is nothing at all special and the arrival, towards the end, of Richard E. Grant really sums up it’s gorgeous blandness. Stick with the 1934 version.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Daniel Day-Lewis
Newland Archer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Ellen Olenska
Winona Ryder
May Welland
Alexis Smith
Louisa van der Luyden
Geraldine Chaplin
Mrs. Welland
Jonathan Pryce
Rivière
Richard E. Grant
Lawrence "Larry" Lefferts
Alec McCowen
Sillerton Jackson
Mary Beth Hurt
Regina Beaufort
Stuart Wilson
Julius Beaufort
Howard Erskine
Beaufort Guest
Miriam Margolyes
Mrs. Catherine Mingott
Siân Phillips
Mrs. Archer
Carolyn Farina
Janey Archer
Michael Gough
Henry van der Luyden
Joanne Woodward
Narrator (voice)
Robert Sean Leonard
Theodore "Ted" Archer
June Squibb
Mingott Maid
Thomas Gibson
Stage Actor
Norman Lloyd
Letterblair
Cristina Pronzati
Countess Olenska's Maid
Cindy Katz
Stage Actress
Domenica Cameron-Scorsese
Katie Blenker
Brian Davies
Philip
Patricia Dunnock
Mary Archer
Kevin Ash
Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
Pasquale Cajano
Man in Crowd (uncredited)
Catherine Scorsese
Elderly Woman at Jersey City Station (uncredited)
Charles Scorsese
Elderly Man at Jersey City Station (uncredited)
Martin Scorsese
Photographer (uncredited)
Dante Ferretti
Production Design
Michael Ballhaus
Director of Photography
Florian Ballhaus
First Assistant Camera
Anastas N. Michos
Steadicam Operator
Gabriella Pescucci
Costume Design
Martin Scorsese
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Joseph P. Reidy
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Thelma Schoonmaker
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Joseph P. Reidy
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Ellen Lewis
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Elmer Bernstein
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Skip Lievsay
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Edith Wharton
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Jay Cocks
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1989
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Evil Dead II
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1978 · 13 wins
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1981 · 11 wins
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