Scorsese surprised doubters by successfully adapting (with Jay Cocks) and directing a film version of Edith Wharton’s novel. High up the 1870s NYC social ladder, prosperous lawyer Daniel Day-Lewis gravitates towards whispered-about married woman Michelle Pfeiffer—and away from adoring younger fiancée Ryder; cameo-lovely in Gabriella Pescucci’s Oscar-winning costuming, Ryder earned her first Academy Award nomination and won a Golden Globe Award.