Scorsese–Women Excelling in his Films
One of the overlooked aspects of Scorsese’s career is the number of powerful female performances in his films, even in those starring and dominated by De Niro.
Scorsese has ensured that his actresses portray a broad range of women. Whether of the criminal element or naive and innocent, the director has given his actress a whole range of meaningful role.
Michelle Pfeiffer in ‘Age of Innocence’
Scorsese’s 1993 romantic drama The Age of Innocence, a story almost devoid of the tropes typically associated with his works (urban crime, violence).
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Age of Innocence sets itself apart from the original work by boasting breathtaking set pieces, a beautiful score, and memorable acting performances across the board.
While Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder offer strong performances, it’s Michelle Pfeiffer’s heartbreaking role as Ellen Olenska that stands out, not a minor feat.
Pfeiffer’s depiction of a woman yearning for forbidden love is what makes her character so different from the others.
The Age of Innocence helped shed the notion that she was just a pretty face in Hollywood, thus contributing securing more dramatic roles in her career. Vulnerable and beautiful, Pfeiffer’s Olenska represents one of the best performances in any of Scorsese’s works,
Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear (1991)
A remake of the 1957 novel The Executioners and the 1962 film adaptation of the same name, Cape Fear is Scorsese’s contribution to the horror thriller genre.
Premise:
Following Max Cady’s release from prison after serving a sentence of 14 years, he embarks on a revenge quest against Sam Bowden, the lawyer responsible for his jail time.
Among some of the strongest work in the 1991 thriller, Juliette Lewis plays Danielle Bowden, Sam’s impressionable teenage daughter, in a role that helped launch her career.
Although Lewis’s work in Oliver Stone’s 1994 Natural Born Killers is her most famous, she does an amazing job taking a one-dimensional character and making her feel unique.
Sharon Stone in Casino (1995)
Though some reviewers have dismissed Casino as the 1990 Goodfellas rip off, he 1995 picture is truly different and has interesting characters of its own.
In Casino, Sharon Stone, fresh ff from her work in the scandalous Basic Instinct, plays Ginger McKenna, a sexy chip hustler in the Las Vegas casino scene, and the eventual wife of mobster Sam Rothstein (De Niro).
Even though all kinds of clues imply that she’s not to be trusted, Rothstein falls for her and Ginger uses his lust to her selfish advantage.
Despite Ginger’s shortcomings as a character, Stone infuses a level of empathy to her complex character, that even she barely understands, a femme that is as much of a victim as she is a predator, caught off in seemingly uncontrollable situations.
