The Age of Innocence

Three times a year, Script Club invites a Flemish screenwriter to (re)discover his or her favourite film. After the screening, actor and screenwriter Anne Vanoppen and the invited guest will talk about the film and what makes its screenplay so remarkable.

Film and television director Bert Scholiers (F** You Very, Very Much, CHARLIE AND HANNAH’S GRAND NIGHT OUT) chose Martin Scorsese’s THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. We talk about how this film seamlessly connects to Paul Thomas Anderson’s PHANTOM THREAD, because this connection goes beyond actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who stars in both films.

New York, the 1870s. Lawyer Newland Archer (Day-Lewis) is about to get married to Mary Welland (Winona Ryder), but becomes fascinated with her cousin Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), who has recently escaped a violent marriage from Europe. His attempt to get closer to her comes at the risk of everything else: his reputation, his marriage and his social status. Scorsese translates unspoken desire from the page to the big screen like no other. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE is therefore the ideal case study in writing subtext.

An initiative of Scenaristengilde in collaboration with De Cinema and Sabam for Culture.