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.

Instead, Lily makes too many assumptions about her station, offending her aunt (Eleanor Bron), falling into a financial obligation to a manipulative investor (a curiously apt role for Dan Aykroyd), ostracized by a "friend" (Laura Linney), and refusing help from her most prominent would-be suitor (Anthony LaPaglia). All of these gaffes combine to forge Lily's downfall, and Anderson brilliantly captures the horror and confusion of a woman who is shocked when her expectations are no longer matched by her reality. Lily grows defenseless and dependent, and The House of Mirth evolves from stately reserve to become a devastating portrait of class cruelty. Heavy stuff, to be sure, but expertly crafted and blessed by Anderson's complex and heartbreaking performance. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Rating:
Summary: Social complexity and a heroine who does not learn from mistakes
Comment: When you read the reviews of this film, reviewers who have read the book tend to rate the film lower and indicate that film does not measure up to the novel. However, I think it is only fair to review the film as a stand alone artistic production independent of the source novel, and under this condition the film is superb and highly disturbing. I found myself thinking about the film all the next day after I saw it, for it is dark social commentary on the human condition.

Gillian Anderson plays Lily Bart, a cool socialite, seeking a rich husband among the New York City social upper class. The film follows Lily as she makes one mistake after another in judgment, all with consequences that begin to undermine her social position. Her vulnerability is based on her ambivalence and inaction when action is required. Lily had upper class parents who lost their fortune when she was 19. Now she lives with her Aunt Julia Peniston, and her cousin, Grace Julia Stepney.

The most obvious ambiguity in her life is her love for the handsome lawyer, Lawrence Selden, who does not have the size fortune needed to attract and maintain Lily. She loves him and yet her vocation is to seek a wealthy husband, and Lawrence recognizes that this is her vocation, the goal toward which everyone in her family and social network directs her, and thus he does not push his affections upon her. They become a tragic pair of star-crossed lovers. Eric Stoltz does a great job playing Selden, a cool sophisticated socially accepted handsome man. Under normal circumstance he would be an excellent choice for a husband. However Lily has been bred to go after the highest prize, the wealthiest men in New York City.

Lily has a small inheritance of $9,000 of which she has lost $8,000 in gambling debt which she must repay. She is friends with Gus and Judy Trenor and Judy is attempting to fix Lily up with New York's most wealthy men. But Lily loves Lawrence and she undermines each and every attempt to connect her to a rich husband and secure future. She confides to Gus Trenor that she is in debt and he offers to manage her inheritance. Lily sees Judy and Gus as her great friends and attends the opera with Gus when Judy is in the countryside. Gillian Anderson looks outstanding dressed in red for the Mozart opera but her conspicuous beauty in combination with her married escort begins to stimulate gossip and tales that reach the ears of her prudish rich aunt. Funds come in which Lily disburses, not realizing that these funds are not her dividends but the funds of Gus Trenor who finally reveals he wishes her to become his lover so as to repay the funds he has given her. She refuses Gus but the damage to her reputation has been done.

This incident is minor stuff compared to the incredible double-cross that she endures from Bertha Dorset, who sets up Lily to cover her own marital indiscretion. Lily's cousin Grace uses every opportunity to influence the elderly Aunt Julia and when Julia dies the vast fortune goes to Grace with only enough funds going to Lily to pay her debts.

Lily has the evidence to shame Bertha Dorset and give her husband George Dorset the grounds for a divorce but she does not use the tools she has been given. When the wealthy Jewish businessman Sim Rosedale offers her a strategy by which she can regain her status, she refuses to act, probably because Bertha has had an affair with Lawrence Selden and thus to act would also hurt Lawrence. When rich Aunt Julia dies, she leaves Lily $10,000, enough to cover her debts but no more. Lily never understood or appreciated her aunt's value system and what games would be required to inherit the vast fortune of $400,000 that is left to cousin Grace. Remember that $400,000 in 1907 is equal to about 400 million in 2008 dollars.

The film tracks Lily's sad fall down the social ladder and the poor self destructive decisions that Lily has made come to bring about her downfall. It is an irony that she never really commits any of the indiscretions for which she is accused. Beautiful rich women in her class had to balance their vocation of acquiring wealth with their passion for men other than their husbands. Lily was not cut out for this strategy that Bertha Dorset has mastered so well. Laura Linney is excellent as the relentless Bertha who would sacrifice Lily to cover her own indiscretion.

The end is sad and crushing. Lily has learned that life is difficult and that she is useless person if she no longer resides in the upper crust of wealthy society. She comes to see that she was just a cog in a giant social machine and when she dropped out of the machine, she was of little use to anyone.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: HOUSE OF MIRTH
Comment: HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000) is a period piece based on the Edith Wharton novel that portrays the early 20th century social caste of New York's elite. Gillian Anderson brings depth to Lily Bart's character as she navigates the protocols and expectations of society that are steeped within her own personal vices. Eric Stolz, Laura Linney, Dan Aykroyd, Anthony LaPaglia, and Elizabeth McGovern also display fine performances, portraying characters that provide a cohesive backdrop for Lily Bart. Caught between gambling debts and naivete, Bart (Anderson) finds herself in a maelstrom of life-altering events, which preclude her from being with the man she truly loves.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A splendid and justified adaptation
Comment: The melancholic tale of rapacious Lily Bart, that was so meticulously and brilliantly written by Edith Wharton, deserves to be depicted onscreen with the same fluidity, subtleties and emotive presence as the novel, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that director Terence Davies truly accomplished this. Having read the novel a couple of weeks before, I was so anxious to see the movie adaptation that could do it justice and in my opinion, it sure did.

What Davies concocted in this small-budgeted movie that somehow looks extravangant and lush is the dreamlike atmosphere, with shades of ethereal lighting, that poses a stark contrast to the realism and a sense of brutality in the movie. It seems realistic in a way, as people have mentioned, by the lack of background music that may all but decimate the essence of the words said by the characters. The stillness of a scene without music whatsoever, pulls the audience in and makes the conversations more private and true.

I'm actually very happy that Davies had decided to retain the 'stilted', formal dialogue that Edith wrote, which makes the similarities between the novel and the movie more tangible. Most of the actors seem to be at ease with the dialogue, and I can only sing songs of adulation to Gillian Anderson. I'm not very familiar with her and the supporting cast's work, and the faintest memory of Gillian in X-Files that I have is when I was barely in elementary school.

Gillian is absolutely resplendent as Lily Bart, and the fact that her translucent azure eyes emoting a paroxysm of different emotions within seconds astound me. Her downward spiral towards penury is executed wonderfully; her trembled voice and breaths and her fatigued expression just express pure debility. She does an absolutely brilliant performance that deserves a universal recognition.

As Lawrence Selden, the handsome Eric Stoltz portrays him with such sophisticated charm, at times boyishly, and flirtatious air that it's no wonder that Lily, Grace Stepney and Bertha Dorset are vying for him. In the second part of the movie, Stoltz proves to be a remarkably effective actor in doing dramatic scenes, especially his final scene where he strips off Lawrence's righteous facade and pours his heart out that all but shows the vulnerability and despondency of a crestfallen man. Only stone-hearted people are not affected by this particularly sad scene.

I also have to mention that Gillian and Stoltz elicit amazing sparks and chemistry from each other, which makes their attraction very credible and justified. They react off each other perfectly just with clandestine glances, smiles and even behind cigarette smokes. Their intimate scenes are titilating and private, under Davies' claustrophobic frame, that makes me feel as if their rendezvous is not meant to be seen by the audience.

Other standout performances for me are Anthony LaPaglia as Sim Rosedale and Laura Linney as the vulturous Bertha Dorset, whose malicious intentions lie behind her placid smiles.

The only complaint I have about this movie is that some scenes can only be understood by the rarefied few, albeit those who have read the novel. One scene in particular is the entertainment at the Brys where they held a tableux vivants and Lily was Watteau's Summer. It seems to come out of nowhere in the movie without explanation whatsoever. Such problems occur, unfortunately, because of the meagre amount of budget.

Nonetheless, The House of Mirth is an extraordinary adaptation and it lingers on with me long after I finished watching it that I had to watch it again on the same day. And both times, I couldn't help but cry and feel extremely moved by the movie. This is the movie to see if you enjoy the aesthetics of great cinema and leisurely-paced movie that is deep and wreathing with emotional turmoil.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A poorly made movie
Comment: I loved the book, and didn't mind the rewriting of the storyline. But this was just a badly made film. The acting was terrible, for one. As much as I like Gillian Anderson, I felt she was out of her depth for the role. Everyone else (with the exception of Laura Linney) seemed to be "faking" it. The worst part was the transitions between scenes, which were too long, and usually without dialogue or music. I'm not looking for an action-packed film, but the transitions really added nothing to the flow or emotion of the film. There were some good moments, and the costumes were beautiful, but otherwise, I'm waiting for someone else to make a film adaptation of Edith Wharton's wonderful book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: skip the movie if you're very attached to the book
Comment: I just finished the dvd after having read the book a few weeks ago, and I'm sorry to say that my high hopes were disappointed. You would think that a novel worth adapting to film would be worth adapting with some sense of fidelity to the original...unless you have learned better by now. (I have not.)

My first frustration with this version was when I realized that the script had collapsed, into one very incoherent character, the heroine's greatest (blindest, even!) defender *and* one of her greatest detractors. Was this a misguided attempt to economize? In the novel, Gerty Farish is a crucial foil not only for Lily Bart's beauty but also for her taste for luxury, her selfishness, and her charm--perhaps someone decided that, with her unrequited longing for Selden and her bad complexion, Gerty would drag down the film's aesthetic standards. In the novel, however, this is essential: she is shabby, yes, she is exhaustively principled and self-effacing, but she also shows us that the extreme poverty that leads to such squalid ruin in the heroine *can* be compatible with some kind of respectable and useful existence. This all sounds like a load of moralizing, but what works about the novel is that it doesn't try to privilege this good-doing over what is undeniably more interesting; you could say that it is Gerty who manages to survive the course of the plot, but you would also have to admit that the life of Gerty Farish would never merit any kind of novelistic treatment. I have harped on this for too long, but to half-eliminate and half-combine what is probably the fourth- or fifth-most important character in the book with, of all people, Grace Stepney, is, to say the least, problematic.

My other main gripe with this adaptation was that I missed a sense of Lily Bart's tragic habit of doing the wrong thing, against her better conscience, until it was just too late. This was what sustained, through the better part of the book, a sense of ineluctable doom. If a pervasive sense of ineluctable doom doesn't sound like a good idea for a movie, then someone ought to rethink making movies out of stories that [spoiler, if you are still with me] end in suicide, even if the suicide is staged with a bottle of red liquid dripping artistically from the heroine's loosening fingers.

If you're looking for Edith Wharton, needless to say, you'll do better to read the book. If you're trying to save yourself the trouble of reading Edith Wharton for a class--shame on you!--you'll probably get more out of wikipedia than from this movie.

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