The Age of Innocence is a 1993 American period drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. The film is based on the 1920 novel of the same name by Edith Wharton. The story follows Newland Archer, a well-to-do lawyer in 1870s New York City who is engaged to be married to the sheltered Ellen Olenska, a Countess who has returned from Europe after scandalously separating from her husband. When Archer's old friend, the notorious Countess Olenska, re-enters his life, he must decide if he should follow his heart or his society-dictated moral code. The film also stars Richard E. Grant as the character Julius Beaufort, and Geraldine Chaplin as Archer's mother, Mrs. Manson Mingott. The term 'Age of Innocence' refers to the title of the novel and the film, which is set in the late 19th century in New York City.