Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11739 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-29
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 140 minutes

Review
This adaptation of Edith Wharton's classic novel about the emptiness and cruelty of turn-of-the-century New York high society marks yet another departure for British filmmaker Terence Davies. After earning accolades for his stylized, nostalgia pieces about his working-class upbringing, Davies turned toward adaptation with his 1995 film of John Kennedy Toole's novel The Neon Bible. The House of Mirth, with its purely linear narrative and non-autobiographical content, continues Davies' evolution. The movie stars Gillian Anderson, who gives a shattering performance as Lily Bart, a beautiful socialite whose humble means and sense of integrity combine to cast her out of the glamorous world of the New York affluent. As with another major adaptation of a Wharton novel, Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence, the movie depicts the tragic destiny of an individual whose possibilities are circumscribed by an indifferent society. Compounding Lily's circumstances are her own personal failings. Paralyzed by indecision and clinging na�vely to a hazy notion of virtue, Lily marches to her doom with an almost perverse resignation -- there is an air of martyrdom to her downward spiral. Using the device of tableaux vivants as his point of departure, Davies adopts a rigorous and painterly visual scheme that evokes the paradox of a sumptuous milieu governed by repressive mores. Eschewing the elegant voice-over that Scorsese utilized in his film, Davies chooses to leave the story's subtext and psychological undercurrent unspoken. The result is a more elliptical, elusive movie that nonetheless exerts a powerful and heartbreaking pull. The movie, originally made for the Showtime cable television network, was instead picked up for theatrical distribution, and made its U.S. premiere at the 2000 New York Film Festival. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide

On the DVD
Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video
Widescreen presentation
Audio: English 5.1 [Dolby Digital] and 2-channel [Dolby Surround]
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Director's commentary
Production notes
Deleted scenes with director's commentary
Theatrical trailers
Filmographies
Animated menus
Scene selections
Weblink to official "The House of Mirth" website

Synopsis
Adapted for the screen from Edith Wharton's much-loved novel of the same name, House of Mirth follows the fortunes -- or lack thereof -- of Lily Bart, an ambitious but financially imperiled young woman looking for a rich husband in early 20th century New York. The story opens as Lily (Gillian Anderson) takes tea at the apartment of Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz), a young bachelor lawyer to whom Lily is attracted but cannot marry because he is not wealthy enough for her liking. Lily stops at Selden's apartment en route to Bellomont, where she is planning to husband-hunt at the country home of shifty businessman Gus Trenor (Dan Aykroyd) and his wife. Gus agrees to invest some money for Lily, but his intentions toward her quickly turn carnal, and when she rebuffs his advances, she finds herself $9,000 in debt. Help arrives in the form of financier Sim Rosedale (Anthony LaPaglia), who extends to Lily a businesslike proposition of marriage; though she is tempted, Lily refuses his offer because he is nouveau riche rather than blueblood society. Soldiering on, Lily journeys to the Mediterranean, where she has been invited to the home of Bertha Dorset (Laura Linney), an alpha socialite who schemes to use Lily as an unwitting decoy for an affair under the nose of her husband George (Terry Kinney). When the trip starts to go bad, George tells Lily that he wants to divorce the slatternly Bertha, but needs some solid proof of her affairs in order to do so. Lily knows that one of Bertha's previous lovers was Selden, but her loyalty to him prevents her from speaking up to George. So, still in debt to Gus and given only a paltry inheritance by her aunt (Eleanor Bron), Lily endures a slew of unsuccessful jobs and, tragically, gradually sinks into the mire of genteel poverty. Directed by Terence Davies, House of Mirth premiered at the 2000 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

The tragedy of Lily: Doing the right thing at the wrong time
When we talk about great novels that deal with the downfall of a young woman, Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" does not get mentioned in the same breath with "Madame Bovary," "The Awakening," and "Anna Karenina." Certainly there are substantial differences since Wharton's heroine Lily Bart is not a married woman seeking comfort in an adulterous affair; she is a single woman searching for a husband, playing the game of flirtation, and weighing her options. But in the end her destruction makes her a kindred spirit to Emma Bovary and the others. In fact, because her sins are relatively small and her destruction so complete, Lily Bart is a much more memorable tragic figure.

I came to this film version of "The House of Mirth" with no expectations other than a breakthrough performance by actress Gillian Anderson in the role of Lily. As it dawned upon me that we were watching the complete and total destruction of a human being by the venal society of which she thought she was a permanent member, Anderson's performance took on a truly haunting aspect. The result is as restrained an emotional performance as you have ever seen, reflecting the slower tempo of the times depicted (watch the measured pace of Lily's walk, both in the opening sequence at the train station and when the gilded society walks up the massive staircase to the opera).

Like Lily, we have our expectations of the characters in this gilded society shattered as the story progresses and she begins her descent into hell. The man who comes to her financial assistance, Gus Trenor (Dan Aykroyd), is looking for something in return; the man who would take her as a trophy wife in a loveless marriage, Sim Rosedale (Anthony LaPaglia), is ultimately the only person who will treat her decently; the man she truly loves, Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz) is unworthy of her affections; and the man who would treat her the way she truly deserves, George Dorset (Terry Kinney), is married to the instrument of her destruction and therefore beyond her reach. The ultimate irony is that Lily's character has a strength greater than those around her, but it does her no good in the end, when even her personal dignity is not enough to sustain her.

The measured performances throughout this film are superb, but it is Laura Linney as Bertha Dorset who stands out with her ability to inject pure venom into a quick glance or a few well chosen words. Anderson was not exactly robbed of an Oscar nomination for her performance, but if she had received one no one would have blinked an eye. Certainly this role will open up some serious doors for her down the road as she enters the rest of her career after Scully. "The House of Mirth" lacks the spectacle of "Age of Innocence," but I do not want to dock a film rating stars because of how much money they had to put things on the screen. This film starts slowly but then builds up a compelling momentum.

Terence Davies audio commentary is extremely insightful (I especially like his comment on how American actors use their eyes), although he picks his moments, usually at the beginning of scenes. His emphasis is on both the adaptation of Wharton's novel and the actual production of the film. With regard to the former he talks about the decision to combine characters or other alterations, and takes great pleasure in identifying those lines which are his own creation rather than Wharton's. The latter topic evidences how the director solved the problems of an $8 million budget filming in and around Glascow. Davies talks less than half the time during the audio commentary, but what is there is certainly first-rate. He also provides a spirited defense of the deleted scenes, most of which are longer versions of those in the film and which provide additional layers of density to the complex character relationships. Clearly, Davies was a writer-director passionately involved in the creation of his film.

a cautionery tale........
this film is excellent, but this i attribute in most part, the edith wharton's creating such a brilliant story.
what is so interesting about authors such as this, is they inspire those like myself who only know the time of "now" that we live in, & this story opens up the times before, how we came to be where we are now, filling in jigsaw pieces & also what life on a bigger picture is/was about.
gillian anderson is wonderful as the tragic heroine, being free-spirited, independent & fun-loving.
the thing that got me with this story was how she met such a tragic demise when she did nothing wrong!
she was cruelly & jealously played by those she trusted called friends.
maybe this is truly a cautionery tale!

Heartbreaking
Couldn't help but feel the pain that the heroine went through. Wonderful film. I was surprised by Gillian Anderson's suberb acting because I had only seen her in the television show "X-Files". I would recommend this film to anyone who is patient to watch this film and who has an appreciating for tragic stories.