it should be obvious that wharton be not pushkin and nor be scorsese ingmar bergman . the attempted custombrism of edith wharton be false and insipid and lack grounding in the best french or spanish tradition and and all attempt at reach epic proportion pale into insignificance beside the great master tolstoy and sholakhov and doestoyevsky and among others . that martin scorsese and a director who have amply show his calibre in such film a ` the last temptation of christ and ` the color of the money and ` taxi driver among his best title and should try his hand at an involuted regentist victorianism so abhor by european for at least 75 year and be more than surprising and turn out in the end to be even irritate . pérez galdós would have be greatly anger by any similar treatment of his ` fortunata y jacinta and for example . if wharton in 1870 be decidedly retrograde and scorsese in 1993 be definitely on another planet . how or why scorsese could ever have be inspire to make a pretence replica of anything in the style of the magnificent ` fanny och alexander just beggar belief . he build a sumptuous and even fastidious and set and decorate it with some rather good actor and and use highly tone up color and no doubt a if to add insult to grievous occular harm and which and for 1870 new york and be indeed a gross insolence and incoherent injustice . the dialogue be somewhat akin to the luscious look dish spread out on the extravagant table represent make of plastic and indigestible and however brilliantly sic they may have be film . so much mannerism and forced modality and at time take on tragicomedy theatrical proportion and seem as authentic a a penguin acting a a tourist guide in ` la alhambra . the non original music include some good piece and even though ` alerte . alerte . from ` faust by charles gounod do not appear in the paris opera in it final grand opera form until march 1869 and make it début in the metropolitan a few year later while use the same recording a that use by tony richardson in ` the phantom of the opera three year earlier be not merely an unhappy coincidence while and some thirty second of enya during a scene of hundred of men hang on to their bowler hat in the driving wind be a laughable misfit at best . the result be more than 150 minute of tedious inconsequentiality represent late nineteenth century wealthy upper crust going on in their own conceive quagmire of suppose respectability and lushly veneer egocentric hypocracy and be out of touch with more genuine humanity . edith wharton be dead and buried represent i hope she will now remain that way .