The House of Mirth

Starring:Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
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.

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.

Customer Reviews:

Not very well edited........2007-07-05

Many of the characters from the novel were left out of this film. Although the lead actress was good, if I had'nt read the novel I would have been lost.

Social Commentary, not a Romance.......2007-06-18

This is an adaptation of the 1905 novel by Edith Wharton. The title is from Ecclesiastes 7:4: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." The story follows young socialite Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson of The X-Files) as she simultaneously attempts to find a husband and sabotages the attempts with gambling debts and, in her naiveté, even more troublesome financial obligations to a wealthy married man aptly played by Dan Aykroyd. Lily appears trapped by her love of money and the strict social conventions of the time. She tries to do the right thing but her efforts fail. She is ultimately a tragic figure. She states towards the end, "I have tried hard, but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person."

For a story to work you must care about the characters. The reason I give this movie only four stars is that while I cared for the Lily of the novel I could not muster the same feelings for the selfish and often stupid Lily of the movie.

Edith Wharton was born in 1862 to a wealthy New York family. She knew the wealthy and powerful of the age. She was a part of upper class American society but also a harsh critic of it. Her novels illustrate the provincialism, elitism, ignorance and bigotry of the period. Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for her novel The Age of Innocence, in 1921. She was the first woman to win the award.

Recommendation: If you enjoy period movies this is one worth watching but be warned it was written as social commentary, not as a romance.

Kyle Pratt

Well acted.......2007-03-16

If you like period movies, this one is for you. This is the second period movie I have seen Gillian Anderson and I am astounded as to her wide acting range. This is not one of my favorite but it has more to do with the story line.

I just don't know..........2007-01-25

I honestly don't know how to describe this movie. Not having read the novel, I don't know if it was a faithful adaptation or not. Some reviews claim it is, while some claim it isn't. Lily was a little arrogant, refusing one wealthy suitor after another, while pining for a lawyer who has nothing and wouldn't marry her anyway, because he knew he couldn't provide her with the kind of lifestyle to which she was accustomed. She resides with a wealthy aunt and cousin, having little money of her own. She acquires gambling debts playing bridge, though we never see when this happens. The cousin tells the aunt about the gambling debts, and the old lady more or less disowns Lily. When the aunt dies, she leaves everything to the cousin, who tells Lily that it was HER fault her aunt died and it was because her gambling debts caused the aunt to worry herself sick. Lily never finds out that her cousin is the one who told their aunt about the gambling debts. Little by little her life begins to fall apart, she is tricked several times into bad decisions, and then shunned by her wealthy friends. Her life spirals downward into poverty and drug addiction, and she eventually commits suicide.

Aliens trying to act human........2006-12-04

I loved Edith Wharton's THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, I know the novel well, and was really disappointed in this movie.

It wasn't so true to the book--which I understand is often the case in novel adaptations--but there were some fundamental differences in the character's behaviors.

Furthermore, the casting and the acting was terrible. It was like watching either a couple of aliens trying to act human, or horrific over-acting as if it were the opening of a porno movie.

I like Gillian Anderson very much in the X-Files, and I've liked her in other things. This role, she was not right for--not at all. And she didn't have any of the calm, cool natural that Lily Bart did.

Disappointment :-(

Average customer rating:

LOVE AND HONOR AT WHAT PRICE...

The House of Mirth [Region 2]
Starring: Gillian Anderson , Dan Aykroyd , Eleanor Bron , Terry Kinney , and Anthony LaPaglia
Director: Terence Davies
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000594Z2

Customer Reviews:

LOVE AND HONOR AT WHAT PRICE..........2006-05-03

In this beautifully costumed and lavish period piece based upon Edith Wharton's novel of the same name, Gillian Anderson gives an inspired and luminous performance as Lily Bart, a rising young New York socialite who is ultimately done in by a ruthless friend , deliciously played by Laura Tinney, who cruelly sacrifices Lily to save her own reputation.

The dry repartee in which Lily engages and passes for wit in this bygone era sets the tone for the film. It is a carefully orchestrated show in which marriageable society girls engage in order to snag the wealthiest suitor. While Lily Bart is the cream of the crop, she has the misfortune to have given her heart to a socially acceptable, yet financially constrained, lawyer, Laurence Selden, wonderfully portrayed by Eric Stoltz. Her heart claimed by this most unsuitable of suitors, she dallys, refusing to commit to any others, while her star is still on the ascent.

Lily finds herself making an unwise financial transaction which puts her at the mercy of an unscrupulous and smarmy financial investor named Gus Trennor, well played by Dan Akroyd. When he puts Lily in a compromising position in return for the money he now claims that she owes him, she indignantly spurns his advances and incurs his emnity. Meanwhile, her aunt, upon whom Lily is financially dependent, hearing of her financial indiscretion, is appalled and vitually cuts Lily out of her will, leaving her a small determinate sum, rather than making Lily her sole heir as expected.

Meanwhile, her friend, devilishly played by Laura Tinney, is on the verge of having her marital indiscretions made known to her circle of society friends. She throws everyone off the scent by cutting her friend Lily in a most public fashion with all the attendant insinuations from which much may be inferred. This has the net effect of causing Lily to fall totally into social disgrace. Her star is now very much on the descent.

When her aunt dies, and Lily is left virtually penniless, Lily finds herself alone and on a downward spiral, forced to earn her daily bread for the first time in her life. Abandoned by her friends, she despairs, even though she has the means of regaining her former status at her fingertips, would her information not also sully the reputation of her true love, Lawrence Selden, as well as that of the false friend who brought her to this point. To her detriment, she takes the high road of love and honor. Too late, Selden realizes the sacrifice that Lily has made on his behalf.

What happens to Lily and why is an interesting study of human frailties, class consciousness, social status, and honor. This film is a beautifully and richly costumed period piece with bravura perfomances by the entire cast. Those who are fond of period dramas will surely enjoy this film.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Marked for Death

Mary Lou's Flip Flop Shop: Our Special Friends/Shaping Our

Father Ted : Complete Box Set

DVD: Look in My Shorts

Wir