SEINFELD BLOG

The House of Mirth

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 9780767867078
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767867076
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: May 29, 2001
Running Time: 140 minutes
Sales Rank: 7669
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2000

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Lily bart is a socialite who discovers the precariousness of her position when her beauty and charm start attracting uninvited attention. Her search for a husband comes to a scandalous end when she is falsely accused of having an affair with a married man. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/13/2008 Starring: Gillian Anderson Eric Stoltz Run time: 140 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Terence Davies

Amazon.com:
Meticulously adapted from Edith Wharton's 1905 novel, The House of Mirth may seem at first to be as dry (and as flat) as pressed flowers, but it's quickly evident that director Terence Davies and X-Files star Gillian Anderson (in a breakthrough film role) have tapped directly into the venality of Wharton's New York society. As the ill-fated socialite Lily Bart, Anderson perfectly conveys the understated wit and craftiness of a woman who knows how to play the game, and yet learns too late that it's loaded with ruthless, unspoken rules. Rising above the traditional crop of 'marriageable girls,' Lily is desired by any number of men who could ensure her place among the moneyed elite, but she deflects their courtship; lawyer Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz) is her true love but, tragically, his modest financial status leads them both into a cycle of unfulfilled romance.

Instead, Lily makes too many assumptions about her station, offending her aunt (Eleanor Bron), falling into a financial obligation to a manipulative investor (a curiously apt role for Dan Aykroyd), ostracized by a 'friend' (Laura Linney), and refusing help from her most prominent would-be suitor (Anthony LaPaglia). All of these gaffes combine to forge Lily's downfall, and Anderson brilliantly captures the horror and confusion of a woman who is shocked when her expectations are no longer matched by her reality. Lily grows defenseless and dependent, and The House of Mirth evolves from stately reserve to become a devastating portrait of class cruelty. Heavy stuff, to be sure, but expertly crafted and blessed by Anderson's complex and heartbreaking performance. --Jeff Shannon




Rating: - Social complexity and a heroine who does not learn from mistakes
When you read the reviews of this film, reviewers who have read the book tend to rate the film lower ... Read More

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Rating: - HOUSE OF MIRTH
HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000) is a period piece based on the Edith Wharton novel that portrays the early 20th ... Read More

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Rating: - A splendid and justified adaptation
The melancholic tale of rapacious Lily Bart, that was so meticulously and brilliantly written by Edith ... Read More

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Rating: - A poorly made movie
I loved the book, and didn't mind the rewriting of the storyline. But this was just a badly made film. ... Read More

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Rating: - skip the movie if you're very attached to the book
I just finished the dvd after having read the book a few weeks ago, and I'm sorry to say that my high hopes ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.