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The House of Mirth 2000 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Terence Davies
PG, 140 min. (thematic material) |
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Starring: Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Dan Aykroyd, Eleanor Bron, Terry Kinney, Anthony LaPaglia, Laura Linney, Jodhi May
Producers: Olivia Stewart
Screenplay: Terence Davies
Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Released: 12.22.00 (Limited) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Although it may seem unthinkable to us today, life in 19th and early 20th-century was built around the caste system of
the social elite and the working classes. Aspiring to become part of this esoteric social class was a possibility in one of only two ways -
either by marraige into a rich family or already having money yourself through an estate or property. The House of Mirth,
based on the popular novel by Edith Wharton, delves into the life of one such woman who must find a wealthy husband, or
forfeit her ability to stay in the good graces of the social elite. The cruelty and devastating consequences of not conforming
to their rules is portrayed in an almost cold, calculated manner - which makes the impact of the film even more haunting.
Gillian Anderson, of the X-Files, continues to break out of her mold by playing Lily Bart, a strong, yet vulnerable woman who
must find a way to stay in the social elite because her resources are extremely limited. She is befriended by Lawrence
Selden (Eric Stoltz), who is obviously enamored with her, but marraige to him seems impossible because he is not a very
wealthy man. Several men, including Sim Rosedale (Anthony LaPaglia), a rich Wall Street broker, and Gus Trenor (Dan
Aykroyd), a married but willing benefactor if she will be his mistress, actively pursue her. With none of these options viable
to her, Lily becomes dependent on friends to help her stay afloat because of egregious gambling debts that she has incurred.
When her only benefactor, her aunt, dies, she is left with little money to pay off her debts. Her slow and eventual fall from the
elite social class to the working class is painful and terrifying at the same time. Lily realizes that she simply can't make it
as a working woman, which in the end seals her fate.
It's difficult to understand how a beautiful young woman could fall so far so quickly, but when you are not skilled at any craft
or have not been under any tutelage of any kind, a woman's options are extremely limited in the working class. And for a
wealthy woman who has fallen, it is near impossible to make a life for herself. She is dependent on a good marraige, but when
she is not willing to settle for less than hoped for, the consequences can be severe. In this case, Lily has been used and tossed
away by friends and men alike, and everyone but Selden has disassociated themselves from her. However, Lily has a way out
of her predicament, but refuses to use it to help her gain a footing in the social elite again. This makes the film's conclusion
even more unsettling.
The film is filled with intriguing dialogue, and the carefully constructed words and actions of the rich are reminiscent of other
movies in this genre, mainly The Age of Innocence and Sense & Sensibility. Director Terrence Davies does a good job
of moving the story along, although it probably needed another hour or so to complete the task as many characters are
introduced and then summarily dismissed before we know why they were needed at all. Overall, character development is
good, but it would have been nice to see some reactions of the social elite when hearing the news of Lily's fate.
The House of Mirth is filmed well, with visually repressing scenes of New York City and other locales, including the Mediterranean.
It effectively portrays the mood of the story, and is appropriately matched to the main character, Lily. The film's strength,
however, lies in its acting - from Anderson's strong performance to Stoltz's smooth supporting role - and would have been
diminished considerably without it. This is a good film, one that will undoubtedly have a following from fans of the genre.
Despite a few flaws, The House of Mirth is a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit sobering, film.
© 2000 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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