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Arts & Communication Dialogue of painting and cinema in The Age of Innocence

the fog that envelops the whole city. This misty atmosphere fears of the ordeal. In The Age of Innocence, the scene is
indicates Newland’s intermediary state of being in a semi- staged so that the composition of the painting is mirrored
ghostly world where the past and the present flow into in the structure of the shot. Newland’s static position
each other. The method of color reflection invented by corresponds to that of Oedipus, entranced by The Sphinx.
Impressionists is a material sign of the convergence of Both male characters, the painted and the cinematic one,
different spheres. In this scene in The Age of Innocence, this have little space to move inside the frame, as they are
method is employed to visualize memories and to denote both victims of their own desire to succeed in the battle
the pervasion of invisible ghosts from Newland’s past into with fate. On the contrary, Ellen’s disposition echoes the
the present. In the mist, the real and the corporeal elements location of The Sphinx; they are both placed in a wider area,
merge. In a similar manner, the blend of misty dreams and open for maneuvers. At first, it is possible to suggest that
intangible reality defines the whole vision of the world in the scene, Ellen takes the role of the seducing Sphinx,
represented by the film. neither giving satisfaction nor setting free. However, we
realize that Khnopff’s painting may be approached as a
8. The Art Nouveau element of the visual code to decipher the whole Art Nouveau philosophy the
language of The Age of Innocence film visualizes. According to it, no person is a winner in a
fatal dispute; thus, both Newland and Ellen, as well as the
Art Nouveau is another art style that forms a part of legendary Oedipus, fall prey to merciless destiny.
the objective language of The Age of Innocences. In
the reconstruction of the late 19 -century period, it is 9. Conclusion
th
impossible to avoid the impact of this style. The narrative
line in the motion picture is composed of themes widely Scorsese directed The Age of Innocence as an intertext with
spread in paintings created during la fin de siècle. These various genres and styles of European painting embedded
themes include the predominance of irrational instincts, into the complete visual language system of the film. Painting
functions as a multifaceted objective language on which
the power of Eros traditionally embodied in a female form the work of cinema relies to refer to certain worldviews,
of la femme fatale, and also the eternal dissatisfaction of social values, or philosophical concepts. The portraiture,
human desires. 51-54
landscapes, and still-lives of the Netherlands’ Golden
According to Sigmund Freud, whose ideas were critical Age, together with several forms of the Impressionism
for the formation of the Art Nouveau style, the individual and Art Nouveau styles of the late 19 century, comprise
th
worships the instincts of their unconsciousness but cannot the objective language of the film that was designed to
conquer the obstacles their consciousness builds on the resemble a painted canvas, a work of art from another age.
way to unachievable satisfaction. In The Age of Innocence, The impact of European painting on the visual imagery of
55
this psychoanalytic rule is visualized in the love scene that the film is evident not only in numerous pictures shown in
is staged as a combination of both acts – the worshipping almost every shot but also in material, indexical, and iconic
and the conscious rejection of the possibility of satisfying signs inherent to painting and applied to cinema in The Age
the desire. The scene represents the crucial moment in of Innocence. The objective language of painting enables
which Newland and Ellen decide their future. Although the filmmaker to create an alternate artificial reality. The
during this emotionally highly intense encounter, they pictorial compositions, the color schemes, the method of
express mutual irresistible attraction, they choose to leave reflections in brush strokes, and other painting techniques
their relationship unconsummated and stay apart. At the are reconstructed in this work of cinematic art. The art of
beginning of the scene, the protagonists are positioned in painting symbolizes a seductive illusion of inhabiting a
the background with the painting The Caresses or The Sphinx made-up and dream-like world, an illusion that proves to
(1896) by Fernand Khnopff displayed in Ellen’s living room be a more valuable reality to all characters in the film.
above the fireplace. In the painting, a sphinx, a mythical The analysis of The Age of Innocence has revealed how
creature half woman and half panther, seductively leans the art of painting shapes the language of cinema. The
against young Oedipus’ chest. As Florelle Guillaume 56,p.26 case study of the film by Martin Scorsese has provided
puts it, this work of art materializes the enigma that will insight into the interconnectedness between various forms
“remain deliciously insoluble,” “a persistent dream, the of visual arts and demonstrated that the art of cinema
keys to which seem within our reach, but escape us in the is evolving in the unbroken and continuous dialogue
end.” The painting visualizes the passionate human longing with other art forms. The styles and genres of painting
to reveal the secrets of human life. The Sphinx embodies in film function as objective languages that collaborate
the appealing but threatening destiny impossible to in the formation of a visual message communicated by
conquer, while Oedipus stands for both the bravery and the work of cinematic art. Paintings represent patterns

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 9 doi: 10.36922/ac.2090