She becomes a victim of circumstance and other people's desires. Her pride will not be compromised and, by refusing help, denies herself the luxury of salvation. This is a long, slow and supremely well-written film. Costumes and furniture have as much importance as what is spoken at dinner tables. Words veil meaning.
Truth is dressed in metaphor and played as a game.
Davies captures the lazy, effortless existence of the rich, as a child in summer might guddle minnows for the sake of something to kill. If another Wharton adaptation, The Age Of Innocence, appears racy by comparison, it is not to denigrate The House Of Mirth. Davies is sensitive to emotion, rather than action. His interiors speak the language of another time and the clothes have an eloquence that compliments the look of the light. Gillian Anderson is supremely self-contained, demonstrating a subtlety in her performance that mirrors the style of the film.