Author: Qing Huan
At the end of 2019, the 78-year-old Martin Scorsese returned to the public eye with his new work "The Irishman". Martin Scorsese, known as the "American sociologist", has set his sights on New York, USA, since independently directing his first film "Who Is Knocking on My Door", and has cut into the various problems of society with his own unique perspective, excavating the living conditions of various classes in the city through different themes and different angles, including the struggle and desire of the people at the bottom, the self-restraint and rigidity of the aristocratic class, and other themes. In terms of artistic expression, Martin Scorsese is particularly good at "violent aesthetics", and in his many sharp and spicy works, the film "The Age of Innocence" is like a delicate rose, becoming an alternative classic of Martin Scorsese's personal style.
Poster for the movie "The Age of Innocence"
The Film "The Age of Innocence" is based on the novel of the same name by American writer Edith Walton, for which Edith Walton won the third Pulitzer Prize in the United States in 1921, becoming the first female writer in the history of American literature to win the award. In 1993, Martin Scorsese spent nine years adapting the literary work into a film and bringing it to the big screen. From beginning to end, the film depicts the life of New York high society in the 1870s with a gentle narrative language, and is extremely luxurious and beautiful in the use of images, emphasizing the theme of sentimental and mournful love with exquisite lens language. Despite the absence of exaggerated dramatic conflict, the film is permeated with an oppressive tension that allows the audience to sigh deeply for the aesthetic tragedy of love, and to find a reason for the tragedy in a powerful reality — the shackles of tradition in the context of the times.
"The Age of Innocence" tells a story that takes place in "Old New York", where the aristocratic young man Nuran Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) grew up under the influence of traditional etiquette, has a good upbringing, likes to think, is well-informed, and has a beautiful and gentle fiancée of the same class, May Weyland (Winona Ryder), who is about to become a good couple in the eyes of the world. May's cousin, Countess Alan Orenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), returns to her hometown of New York to escape her wandering aristocratic husband and intends to divorce her, a move that is ostracized and disdained by high society. In his pre-marriage contact with Ellen, Newland became more and more attracted to the free and rebellious and unique Alan, compared to Mei, who was cultivated by the old aristocratic etiquette, which seemed to be conformist and boring. In his marriage to Mei, Nuland realizes that his soul is imprisoned, and once plucks up the courage to leave his wife to find Ellen, and finally has to completely compromise with reality in the face of the fact that his wife is pregnant, and spend a decent, plain life with Mei.
The title of the film is "The Age of Innocence", which ostensibly refers to the most innocent and innocent Mei in the film, but under the surface, there are actually many social ironies. At the end of the 1870s, the United States had just ended the Civil War, the social structure underwent drastic changes, and the new rich who rose up after the war entered the upper class by virtue of their deep financial resources and marriage with the old aristocracy, which greatly threatened the status and interests of the old aristocratic class and the traditions they vigorously defended. In the film, Allen returned to New York from Europe, and at the same time brought back new European living habits and ideas, not only the idea of women's divorce was unanimously opposed by the aristocratic class of New York high society, but also criticized because Allen's dressing style and behavior were incompatible with conservative New York customs. In the eyes of New York high society, Allen was "disgraceful" and a "debauchery man." Compared with the freedom, openness and advancement of contemporary Europe, New York's adherence to tradition is really a kind of "innocence".
In this traditional "innocence", there is also the selfishness and hypocrisy of people. In the traditional view, "women are required to be gentle, beautiful, kind, and pure", this image of women is actually the expectation and control of women in patriarchal society. Morality and family decency are always placed above individual needs, and individuals can always sacrifice for the benefit of the entire family, in order to maintain family honor, and finally at the cost of Alan's return to the unhappy marriage, the dignity of the entire family is preserved.
In high society, although Newland longs for freedom and tries to pursue true love, she does not have the courage to rebel against traditional social norms and moral codes. Despite the new ideas learned from books, his ideas seem too naïve and idealistic in the face of social reality, such as his belief that "women should have freedom —the same freedom as we are", and in patriarchal societies, men do not have absolute freedom, let alone women. Nuland had threatened to support Alan's divorce, but eventually withdrew under the pressure of the family; he had confessed to Alan that as long as he agreed to be with him, he immediately dissolved his marriage contract with May, but when May agreed to marry early, he obediently became a groom. Newland is undoubtedly weak, on the one hand, he wants a free and passionate life, and on the other hand, he believes that marriage with Mei is a matter of course between the two major families, which shows that his heart still maintains the traditional social system.
Newland always thought that his wife Mei was innocent and beautiful, until Mei died, he realized that his wife had always known his relationship with Ellen. Out of sympathy and atonement, May instructed her son to fulfill the most important wish of Newland's life after her death. At the end of the film, the elderly Newland comes downstairs to Allen, he looks at Allen's window to remember the year, and then chooses to turn around and leave. Since this love has not blossomed, it is better to let it stay in the innocent memory forever. Allen, Newland, and Mei are all individuals who are wrapped up in the times, and the strength of the individual is so weak that it cannot shake the powerful world, which is the tragedy of love, and it is also the tragedy of the times. (Qinghuan)
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