1905, New York: Lily Bart is desperate... aged 29, with no inherited wealth but living with a disapproving aunt, she still needs to maintain the veneer expected of her, but an unwillingness to secure marriage with the available rich dullards leaves her exposed.
Forced into errors of judgment and despite good intentions, she slowly finds "her own level in society"; in her world, she is vulnerable to manipulation by so-called friends.
Her friend Lawrence Seldon could 'rescue' her but keeps his distance, maintaining his lawyer's salary would not satisfy Lily's debts. Rosedale, a financier, offers marriage as a straight business proposal but Lily rejects him, realizing too late it would have offered a way out.
Ill-equipped to deal with real life, Lily is adrift...
Shelf or charity shop? Davies' glacial pace may infuriate others but I think it serves the exquisite torture of watching Gillian Anderson's luminous Lily Bart slide from the elite into poverty. The tight budget doesn't do Davies many favours but he is helped by committed performances from Anthony LaPaglia and Dan Ackroyd's men with money and power, Jodhi May and Eleanor Bron's unforgiving cousin and aunt, but above all, the glorious Laura Linney as Lily's smiling assassin Bertha Dorset. Lily has found her level in society by languishing in the DVD limbo of the plastic storage box.
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