COMMENTS:

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE's optical transition effects display certain unusual characteristics such that they can either function to indicate both time lapse and properties of presentation, or to merely indicate properties of presentation. The fade to yellow and then white at the end of this clip shoulders the double burden of carrying the plot over to the next scene while it also, by virtue of exhibiting colors exemplifying the previous segment (yellow flowers) and the one to follow (the predominantly white room), draws attention to?—punctuates?—certain features of design that could otherwise have gone unnoticed. Needless to say, this decorative manipulation of the fade device is highly unusual in the history of film style, perhaps motivated by the filmmakers' attempt to remain loyal to the 'spirit' of the novel from which it was adapted.

Equally as unique is the film's deployment of dissolves and irises. Dissolves, prominent in the film's many dinner segments, are not necessarily meant to indicate ellipses, but rather to smooth out transitions between still-life style shots of the silverware, the ornate table arrangements, and the 'spread' itself. Irises for their part do not function as transition devices at all, used instead to decorate extreme close-ups or POV shots.

[ By Colin Burnett • November 30, 2004 ]