The House Of Mirth

Synopsis

A tragic love story set against a background of wealth and social hypocrisy.

Lily Bart is twenty-nine and very beautiful, but is flawed by her upbringing. She needs a wealthy husband to maintain her precarious foothold in the elite world of the New York of the Belle Epoque. It is a world of vast wealth and moral bankruptcy. In conforming to social expectations, she ignores her chance of happiness with the man she loves.

Her quest for a husband comes to a scandalous end when she is accused of being the mistress of a wealthy married man. The society which once culitvated her now rejects her and she starts to slip down the social ladder. Redeemed by her recognition of the falseness of the life she used to lead, she declines to use her secret weapon to achieve her original goal.

Life for Lily becomes impossible and she moves step by step towards her own inevitable personal tragedy.

Details

Year

2001

Type of film

Features

Running Time

140 mins

Format

35mm Kodak

Director

Terence Davies

Producer

Bob Last, Pippa Cross

Editor

Michael Parker

Screenwriter

Terence Davies

Director of Photography

Remi Adefarasin BSc

Music

Adrian Johnston

Principal Cast

Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, Eleanor Bron, Eric Stoltz, Laura Linney, Terry Kinney, Anthony Lapaglia, Jodhi May, Elizabeth McGovern

Genre

Production status

Complete

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Last updated 26th November 2005