The House of Mirth

Plot synopsis:
Lily Bart, a beautiful but impoverished socialite, is on her way to a house party at Bellomont, the country home of her best friend, Judy Trenor. Her pressing task is to find a husband with the requisite wealth and status to maintain her place in New York society. Judy has arranged for her to meet the wealthy though boring Percy Gryce, a potential suitor. Lily grew up surrounded by elegance and luxury—an atmosphere she cannot live without as she has learned to abhor "dinginess." The loss of her father's wealth and the death of her parents left her an orphan without inheritance or a caring protector. She adapts to life as ward of her straight-laced aunt Julia Peniston from whom she receives an erratic allowance, a fashionable address, and good food, but little succor.
Additional challenges to her success in the “marriage market” are her advancing age—she has been on the "marriage market" for ten years, her penchant for gambling at bridge leaving her with debts beyond her means to pay, her efforts to keep up with her wealthy friends, her inner most desire to marry for love as well as money and status, and her longing to be free of the claustrophobic constrictions and routines of upper crust society.
Lily’s week at Bellomont ends up in a series of failures beginning with losing a large sum at bridge. She also loses her ploy to marry Percy Gryce even though her relationship with him during the week goes so well, everyone thinks an engagement between them is imminent. There are threats to her reputation because of her risky decision to visit her friend Lawrence Selden’s Manhattan flat during the two-hour wait for the train to Bellomont. On departing, she unfortunately encounters Mr. Rosedale, a Jewish businessman known to her set. Attempting to cover the appearance of an indiscretion, she professes to have been consulting her dress-maker. On her last day at Bellomont, threats to Lilly’s social standing begin when she agrees to have Gus Trenor make investments for her with the small amount of money she has. Lacking financial knowledge Lily truly believes Gus is making investments on her behalf and accepts several large checks from him. On several occasions, however, Gus makes it clear that he expects romantic attention from Lily in exchange for his financial expertise. She begins playing cat and mouse with him resulting in her public appearances at opera and late afternoon walks in Central Park with him. In retribution for a social snub, Lily’s cousin Grace Stepney informs their aunt Julia about rumors that Lily has gambling debts which she may be trying to cover through an inappropriate relationship with Gus Trenor. This sows seeds of doubt and discomfort in Aunt Julia who though shocked, does not discuss the situation with her niece so as to avoid a scene.
Lily's failure with Percy Gryce occurs when at week's end the tall, handsome and engaging Lawrence Selden unexpectedly shows up at Bellomont. Lily chooses to spend Sunday afternoon with him instead of meeting Percy for morning church services and an afternoon walk. Even though she made it clear to Selden during their tête-à-tête in his flat that she looked at him as that friend who won’t be afraid to say disagreeable things to her, she becomes drawn to him romantically. Succumbing to her agreeable femininity, Selden begins to fall in love with Lily, yet realizes that she cannot marry a man of his modest means.
Her strategy to marry Percy Gryce is thwarted by Bertha Dorset who is still wildly interested in Selden with whom she has been carrying on an extramarital affair. When she realizes that Selden came to Bellomont to see Lily, Bertha retaliates by making sure Percy finds out about Lily's gambling, smoking, and borrowing money from men to pay off her gambling debts. Percy gets scared off and soon thereafter marries Evie Van Osburgh. Mrs. Dorset's public pride in her match-making victory makes Lily subject to social ridicule. Lily decides not to burn Bertha's love letters to Selden, which she purchased from the char woman at Selden's apartment house who mistook Lily for Selden's paramour.
Lily attempts to neutralize the deleterious effects of the gossip surrounding her by renewing her association with her nemesis, Bertha Dorset, attending an unsuccessful house party at Bellomont, and cooperating with Carrie Fisher’s mission to bring the newcomers, the Wellington Brys, into high society. Following Mrs. Fisher’s advice, the Wellington Brys throw a large "general entertainment" featuring a series of tableaux vivants portrayed by a dozen fashionable women in their set including Miss Bart. The pièce de résistance of this highly successful event turned out to be the portrayal of Mrs. Lloyd in Sir Joshua Reynolds' famous 18th-century painting (1775–1776). The portrait shows an attractive woman suggestively clad. As the curtain opens on this last scene the gasp of approval heard from the audience was not as much for Reynold's brilliant interpretation of Mrs. Lloyd as it was for the loveliness of Lily Bart herself —marking the pinnacle of her social success. As Selden observes her in this tableau—elegant in its simplicity— it is as if for the first time he sees the real Lily Bart and feels the desire to be with her. He finds her alone in the ballroom toward the end of the musical interlude as the collective praise from her admirers was subsiding. He leads her to a garden where he tells her he loves her and they kiss. Lily sighs, " 'Ah, love me,love me—but don't tell me so!' " (141) and takes her leave. As Selden gathers his coat to leave he is disturbed by Ned Van Alstyne's remarks, ". . . .Gad, what a show of good-looking women; but not one of 'em could touch that little cousin of mine. . . . I never knew till tonight what an outline Lily has.” (142)
The next day Lily receives two notes—one from Judy Trenor inviting her to dine that evening at her town house and the other from Selden asking to meet with her the following day. Though she had a dinner engagement, she agreed to a visit with Judy at ten o'clock. However, her late-evening encounter turns out to be with Gus alone. Gus vehemently demands the kind of attention he thought he had paid for. Pleading naivité about business matters and appealing to their friendship, she promises to pay back the almost $10,000 she owes him. With heightened anger and resentment, he accuses Lily of playing with him while entertaining other men. Lily gets him to back off and gets herself into a hansom cab. Shaken and feeling very much alone, she calls on her friend Gerty Farish for succor and shelter for the rest of the evening. The following day Lily pleads with her aunt to help her with her debts and confesses that she has lost money gambling at bridge even on Sundays. her Aunt Julia refuses to help her except to cover the $1,000 to $2,000 bill for clothes and accessories. Feeling trapped and disgraced, she turns to thoughts of Selden and his love as her savior and has a change of heart towards him as she looks forward to his visit at four o'clock.
Instead, her visitor turns out to be Simon Rosedale who, so smitten by her appearance in the tableau vivant, proposes a marriage that would be mutually beneficial. Considering what Rosedale knows about her, she skillfully pleads for time to consider his offer  Selden does not appear for his 4:00 appointment nor does he send word in explanation. Instead he has departed for Havana and then on to Europe on business.
To escape the rumors arising from the gossip caused by her financial dealings with Gus Trenor, and also disappointed by what she interprets as Selden's emotional withdrawal, Lily accepts Bertha Dorset's spur-of-the- moment invitation to join her and George on a Mediterranean cruise aboard their yacht, the Sabrina. Bertha intends for Lily to keep George distracted while Bertha carries on an affair with young Ned Silverton. Lily's decision to join the Dorsets on this cruise proves to be her social undoing.
In order to divert the attention and suspicion of their social circle away from her, Bertha insinuates that Lily is carrying on a romantic and sexual liaison with George by commanding that she not return to the yacht in front of their friends at the close of a dinner the Bry's held for the Duchess in Monte Carlo. Selden helps her arrange for lodging for the night with her cousin Jack Stepney under the promise that she leave promptly in the morning, The ensuing social scandal ruins Lily's reputation and almost immediately causes her friends to abandon her and Aunt Julia to disinherit her. Undeterred by such misfortunes, Lily fights to regain her place in high society by befriending Mr and Mrs Gormer and becoming their social secretary, so as to introduce the Gormers to high society and groom them to take a better social position. However, her enemy, the malicious Bertha Dorset, gradually communicates to them the "scandalous" personal background of Lily Bart, and, so, undermines the friendship which Lily had hoped would socially rehabilitate her. Only two friends remain for Lily: Gerty Farish (a cousin of Lawrence Selden) and Carry Fisher, who help her cope with the social ignominy of a degraded social status, whilst continually advising Lily to marry as soon as reasonably possible.
Despite the efforts and advice of Gerty and Carry to help her overcome notoriety, Lily descends through the social strata of the high society of New York City. She obtains a job as personal secretary of Mrs. Hatch, who is a disreputable woman and who very nearly succeeds in marrying a wealthy young man in Lily's former social circle. She resigns after Lawrence Selden returns to warn her of the danger, but not in time to avoid being blamed for the crisis. Lily then finds a job in a milliner's shop; yet, unaccustomed to the rigors of working class manual labour, her rate of production is low and the quality of her workmanship is poor, and she is fired at the end of the New York social season when the demand for fashionable hats has ceased.
Meanwhile, Simon Rosedale, a Jewish suitor who earlier had proposed marriage to Lily, when she was higher in the social scale, returns to her life and tries to rescue her, but Lily is unwilling to meet his terms. Simon wants Lily to use love letters, which she bought from her servant, to confirm the occurrence of the love affair between Lawrence Selden and Bertha Dorset. For the sake of Selden's reputation, Lily does not act upon Rosedale's request, and secretly burns the love letters when she visits Selden, one last time.
Eventually, Lily Bart receives a ten-thousand-dollar inheritance, from her Aunt Peniston, with which she repays Gus Trenor. Distraught by her misfortunes, Lily had begun regularly using a sleeping draught of chloral hydrate to escape the pain of poverty and social ostracism. One day, Lily takes an overdose of the sleeping draught and kills herself. Hours later, Lawrence Selden arrives to her quarters, to finally propose marriage, but finds Lily Bart dead; only then is he able to be close to her.

Tags: romantic

Review:
This may offend many who expect the heroine to prevail in the end due to a simple basic morality (which is there in Lily), perseverance (which is also there), a clever plot twist and a 40mm grenade launcher (both missing).Lavish sets, beautiful backdrops, gorgeous costumes, good acting (with the possible exception of Akroyd), all make this a surreal, if sad, journey for the cognitively aware and patient.
The sets, the sense of place, the stunning cinematography of Remi Adefarasin (Elizabeth), and most of all Gillian Anderson's virtuoso performance combine with Davies' excruciatingly seductive pacing and scoring cues to track in loving detail the missed opportunities and downfall of Lily Bart.
Anyone who has tried to gain entry to a social register or the DAR might have a easy time understanding the upper class world of New York in 1905.I must commend Davies for the risky choices he made in casting Eric Stoltz as Lawrence Selden and Dan Ackroyd as Gus Trenor.
The precision and depth with which the director and actors go is absolutely true to the novel in almost every respect.Gillian Anderson is a revalation here, she perfectly captures the repression and pain of being a woman stuck in that time and place with no way out.
I must disagree with the viewer from China, Mr. Seldon is NOT meant to be terribly "masculine" or "deep voiced" or "unbearably handsome"- those are modern readings that perhaps we expect from the role of the 'male hero' in modern films- but here Mr. Selden is written exactly as he is played- walking a fine line between what is correct behaviour for the time, and what he was or wasn't allowed to do in regards to her rescue.
The actor portrays this ambiguity perfectly, and I for one found it a relief that the man didn't ride in and save the day in that cliched movie way.I also must commend the supporting players of Anthony LaPaglia (whose role "Sim Rosedale" is originally written as a Jewish man, one of the few changes made to the n script adaption of the novel) and Laura Linney as Bertha Dorset, the 'bad girl' of the story.
They both bring a life to the story that is rare to see in a period film, most actors seem to be too afraid or respectful of the material to really bring it to life.I even enjoyed Dan Ackyroyd in a role that I didn't see him in or expect to like him in.
It's a great story and great looking, but the real surprise in Terence Davies' adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel is how deftly Gillian Anderson among others manages to gracefully convey the stilted rigors of the period language.
Although very much a period piece, the film goes beyond some of the best pictures of Merchant-Ivory in bringing to life Wharton's novel, presenting a darker movie about the consequences of choices and the cost of guilelessness in a ruthless world.
Most of the best scenes and shots are framed in intimacy, not lost amidst panoramas of superficial grandeur or the shallow aesthetics of Merchant-Ivory-style film making.At the heart of Davies' film is Gillian Anderson's brilliant performance as Lilly Bart.
Being a fan of both period pieces and Gillian Anderson I was greatly looking forward to the premier of this movie, and I was not disappointed.
It is, in fact, a good example of the sort of costume drama at which the British film industry has traditionally excelled, although there have been some notable American examples such as Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence", also based upon a novel by Edith Wharton.The action takes place in 1905.
At times Lily's own good nature works against her; she has the opportunity to revenge herself on the woman who has unjustly accused her, but refuses to take it because to do so would also compromise Lawrence Selden, the man she loves.The star of the film is Gillian Anderson, which surprised me when I first saw it in the cinema as I had previously only though of her as "that bird from the X-Files" or the girl who, a few years earlier, had been voted "Most Beautiful Woman in the World" by the readers of FHM magazine.
Her Lily Bart is one of the great tragic heroines of modern cinema; I was reminded of Nastassia Kinski's performance in "Tess", another period drama about a beautiful young woman who struggles vainly to escape a cruel and inexorable fate.There are other good performances from Laura Linney as Lily's accuser, the spiteful Bertha Dorset, from Dan Aykroyd (an actor I more normally associate with comedy) as the financier Gus Trenor who unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Lily, Jodhi May as Lily's quiet but scheming and hypocritical cousin Grace Stepney, who eventually inherits Mrs Penistone's fortune and Eric Stoltz as Selden.Like many British period dramas, the film is beautifully photographed and makes use of some sumptuous sets and costumes.
Wow. Terence Davies' "House of Mirth" is a film that is just brilliant.Essentially, the plot focuses on Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson) a socialite in the early 1900s in New York who, through a series of tragic circumstances, goes from being popular and admired to being a social outcast.
The superb cast includes Dan Aykroyd and Eric Stolz as two of her suitors, and Anthony LaPaglia, great as always, as a man who tries to help Lily out despite her pride winning over.Davies' direction is incredible, one scene is simply of an empty house as it rains and it is just mind-blowing.
A wonderful book given life with the best possible way and although the director lacked the abilities of a bigger money budget which would have made this movie an epic- drama he used it to his advance and turned the movie into a , what we here in Greece call it, "ethografhma" :focused on one character's ethics and actions in certain time-era .
Having worked at a Hudson River estate museum I thought the movie absolutely captured the feeling of those hazy summers out of the city then was astounded to see it was all filmed in Scotland (which would explain the rocky coasts that were the only thing that confusingly didn't look like the Hudson).The long movie is a bit slow and I think my mind wandered such that I missed a crucial plot point here or there - not sure we needed all the twinkling on the water shots.
Director Terence Davies has done a magnificent job of recreating the turn of the century in "The House of Mirth," a 2000 film starring Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Dan Ackroyd, Laura Linney, Anthony LaPaglia, and Terry Kinney.Anderson is Lily Bart, a beautiful young woman of good social standing, traveling in the best circles, who throws away her opportunities for a good marriage because she wants something more meaningful.
By that I mean, Gillian Anderson's sumptuous red hair, full beautiful face, and lovely figure are much more period than, say, Gwyneth Paltrow's -- and yet films are rarely cast with an eye toward capturing the period in that way.
She does much better in the latter part of the film, which calls for a different set of acting muscles than in the beginning.Reminiscent a bit of "Sister Carrie," "The House of Mirth" points up the difficulties of women in that time period to make their way, of the boundaries of class, and the rigidity of the upper class.
Terence Davies' adaptation of Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" follows in the Merchant Ivory tradition of faithfully recreating classic novels for the cinema.
Dan Ackroyd, Eric Stolz and Laura Linney seem completely at ease in their roles, but the real surprise is surely Gillian Anderson."The House of Mirth" is a tale of the downfall of one Lily Bart and as such it's clear the film would succeed or fail on the strength of the portrayal of this central character.
Her performance is up there with the best.One has to view the film with the same mind set as one would  picking up an Edith Wharton novel.
I was pleasantly surprised when I watched "The House of Mirth."While not exactly like the novel (that would equate the making of an epic) I think that the film makers did a great job in condensing the novel down.
Despite these failings I give high marks to the cast, particularly the luminously beautiful and charismatic Gillian Anderson, as Lilly Bart, and Anthony LaPaglia as Sim Rosewood.Wharton's story is intensely sad and often bitter.
The Showtime print had a distressing yellowish caste that made it appear that all of the performers had malaria.It's weaknesses aside I recommend this movie but warn that those who have not read the Wharton's novel may not like it as well as do those of us who have read the book.
The look of the film makes it worth seeing but what distinguishes it is the absolutely astounding, breathtaking performance by Gillian Anderson.
I expected a grim and lifeless movie, but was amazed by a beautiful, haunting evocation of a cruel and unforgiving society in turn-of-the-century New York.Gillian Anderson proves herself to be a wonderful actress.
Do not look for happy endings here.In addition to Gillian Anderson, particularly good are Eric Stoltz as Gillian's true love, Dan Aykroyd as her financier, Jodhi May as Gillian's pious cousin, Laura Linney as her scheming friend, and particularly frightening and wonderfully evil (yet holy) is Eleanor Bron as Mrs. Peniston..
I'm generally not a big fan of period dramas- during a time like the turn of the century when so many people were suffering in the streets and being ignored every day by society, it's hard to feel sympathy for the people who were at the very top of society simply because they had their own emotional problems.
Gillian Anderson is very convincing as the lead character Lili Bart, a young socialite who moves up and down the social ladder of the early 1900's.
Most movies cannot do justice to an author's work, but Terence Davies does an amazing job translating Edith Wharton's tragic novel into a masterpiece.
Gillian Anderson, especially, and the rest of the superb cast manage to captivate a modern audience with this tale which details the unscrupulousness of New York society at the turn of the century.
One of the best performances I have seen for years, she gives a subtle and intelligent portrayal of Lilly well deserving of the Best Actress Award she won at the British Independent Film awards lets hope justice is done at the Oscars..
Eric Stoltz gave a convincing performance as the stiff, repressed Lawrence Sheldon...and managed to convey a strong sexiness nonetheless.The movie's theme (as in the novel) is certainly a feminist one...How a woman untrained for any work in the world is totally dependent on her social position, reputation and the "kindness" of strangers.
Director Terence Davies' interpretation of the book was perfect, and his choice of Gillian Anderson as Lily Bart was inspired.
On a comparatively tiny budget of 10 million dollars, including National Lottery Money, House of Mirth seems to have pulled off an amazing feat in producing a flawlessly told and very detailed period piece.Set just after the turn of the century in and around New York, this story of genteel society and tragedy is a wonderful recreation, especially when one considers it was shot mostly in Glasgow, Scotland.Whilst her performance is not uncontroversial, many will agree that Gillian Anderson's acting in this award-winning film (she's in practically every scene) is little short of outstanding - and we can be thankful that she will be permanently rescued from the typecasting of X-Files as a result.One of the interesting areas is comparing American early twentieth century society with that of England (which has been portrayed in films so many times), but the bigger interest for me was how a woman of firm moral character was dragged down by a society where women were expected to fit into certain pre-defined stereotypes.
I have seen this movie three times now and each time I understand it more and appreciate the great directing on Terence Davies and the wonderful acting.In the beginning when we first meet Lily, she comes across as unlikeable but soon as we get to know her better all the changes and at every wrong move you start screaming Lily what are you doing.I found the story very intense, but good as it's not often a movie can capture me at a first scene until the end like this one and I was so involved I needed time to think at the end of the movie about what I had seen.Gillian Anderson is amazing as Lily Bart as are the rest of the cast but the emotional rollercoaster she goes through in just two hours would be tough for any actress to play but with expressions and the dialogue Anderson captures the audience with that first shadow at the station until the ending.
Even those who haven't enjoyed this movie as much as I have cannot deny that Gillian Anderson is a brilliant actress and that Terence Davies is brilliant for giving us a movie with such beautiful shots of parasols, water and countryside.If you weren't sure about this movie the first time, go see it again as it I found it better with a second viewing..
Based on the novel by Edith Wharton House of Mirth is a masterpiece from British Director Terence Davies,(Long Day Closes) with the excellent casting of Gillian Anderson as Lily Bart this film is for anyone who appreciates film-making at its very best.
An excellent cast headed by the stunningly beautiful Gillian Anderson who has proved undoubtedly she is much more than a television actress, good performances from Jodhi May Eric Stoltz Anthony Lapaglia and Eleanor Bron.
Everything that happened to her from the incident concerning Bertha, her debts and her love for Lawrence, Gillian Anderson's brilliant performance stays true to her tragic character.
Everybody in this film are excellent - the dialogue is beautifully spoken and the lack of music in it makes it even more real and lifelike.I can say only two words to describe this film, and i quote Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson) - " HOW DELICIOUS"..
"The House of Mirth", base on the turn-of-the-century novel by Edith Wharton, becomes a beautifully told story of young woman crushed under the weight of social mores and the rigid sensibilities of the time.
Gillian Anderson definitively portrays the full extent of her talents as an actor in this film about the social downfall of the tragic heroine, Lily Bart.
With the beautiful sweeping long shots and time-lapsing transitions as a backdrop, Davies sets the tone for Lily's tragic, slow downfall and internal struggles throughout the film.
No doubt the thought of Gillian "Agent Scully" Anderson and Dan "Blues Brothers" Aykroyd in a movie set during the Victorian Era would probably sound like a joke; think of it as Leslie Nielsen meets Merchant and Ivory.
I recently read the novel "The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton, and then I watched the movie.
This adaptation was simply brilliant, and I was amazed at the means by which Terence Davies brought the novel to life, stream-lining the untranslatable details, but maintaining the original intention and feeling of the movie.The wonderful aspect, I truly think, is his trust in Gillian Anderson's performance.
Davies trusted her in character enough to let plenty of celluloid go by without any dialogue, but the audience is moved simply by Anderson's means to portray the internal turmoil facing Lily Bart.I could go on for hours about this movie, but I simply feel that it is definitely a film that requires little critique nor explanation, but simply should be taken in as a whole.
This underappreciated, heartbreakingly tragic, and beautiful film is more true to its genre than either "Age of Innocence" or "Portrait of a Lady."Gillian Anderson is remarkable is the passionate, impetuous, and fatally indiscreet Lily Bart.
But it is Gillian Anderson who shines in this film which faithfully adapts the best book Edith Wharton ever wrote..
Not only is does it deliver the themes of the novel, I was bowled over by Gillian Anderson's performance as Lily Bart.
The only thing preventing me from giving this film a '10' was Gillian Anderson's uneven performance.
A wonderful performance by Gillian Anderson would be reason enough to see this movie, but there is virtually not a single wrong note in the whole film.
We feel so much for Gillian Anderson's character (Lily Bart) that i had a tear in my eye for the whole last half.
ButI get ahead of myself."House of Mirth" tells the story of Lily Bart (fantastically played byGillian Anderson -- her performance almost makes me wish Iwatched "The X-Files"), a woman in turn-of-the-20th-century NewYork who defies all the things that women of that period aresupposed to do: she plays cards, she doesn't want to get married,she kisses men who look like Eric Stoltz in a chaperone-lessapartment.
That this didn't detract from the film is atestament to Davies's work, and the excellence of Wharton's novel."House of Mirth" isn't a good movie to see for anyone looking for aswell night out on the town (then again, nothing released so farthis year fits that particular bill), but those of you who prefer arsenicto sugar will like this immensely.
Gillian Anderson is wonderful, but was I the only one in the theatre who didn't think that the run-down boarding house didn't look so bad, or didn't weep at the thought of a privileged society girl actually having to get up in the morning and go to work?It's hard to tell the "rich" from the "poor" in this movie; Lawrence and Lily feel on the fringes, but they wear clothes as beautiful as their "betters," and they all end up in Monte Carlo at the most opportune times...
Gillian Anderson portrays the film's "heroine", Lily Bart.
Completely moved by this film and especially by Gillian's performance of the tragic and torn Lily Bart.