The Age of Innocence

In 1870s New York City, gentleman lawyer Newland Archer is planning to marry the respectable young May Welland. However, his life takes a complicated turn when he meets May's cousin, the American heiress Countess Ellen Olenska, who has returned to New York after a disastrous marriage to a dissolute Polish Count. As Archer spends more time with the countess, he begins to appreciate her unconventional views on New York society and becomes increasingly disillusioned with his fiancée May and her innocence, lack of personal opinion and sense of self. After the countess announces her intention of divorcing her husband, Archer supports her desire for freedom, but feels compelled to act on behalf of the family and persuade the countess to remain married. When Archer realizes that he has unwittingly been falling in love with the countess, he abruptly leaves to be reunited with May and her parents, who are on vacation in St. Augustine, Florida. Archer asks May to shorten their engagement, but May becomes suspicious and asks him if his hurry to get married is prompted by the fear that he is marrying the wrong person. Archer reassures May that he is in love with her. When back in New York, Archer calls on the countess and admits that he is in love with her. The two confront their feelings for each other and must decide whether to pursue their love or follow their societal obligations. The Age of Innocence is a poignant romance that explores themes of love, commitment and social class during Gilded Age New York City's high society era

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Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as The Age of Innocence include Phenomenon, Forrest Gump, The Man in the Moon, When Harry Met Sally..., Titanic, Show Me Love.

The Age of Innocence was released in theaters on October 1, 1993.