The End of the Affair Review
by James Sanford (jamessanford AT earthlink DOT net)December 16th, 1999
THE END OF THE AFFAIR (Columbia)
Directed by Neil Jordan
There's an old British saying, "in for a penny, in for a pound," which applies perfectly to "The End of the Affair," a demanding, thought-provoking film adapted from Graham Greene's novel of the same name. It's a movie built around a theme many will find difficult to accept, that miracles can happen to perfectly ordinary, non-religious people.
If you can believe that, you're well on your way to being drawn in by this story of an illicit WWII liaison between novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) and Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore), the wife of a perpetually glum diplomat. Sarah is in the tenth year of a joyless marriage to Henry (Stephen Rea) and if there was ever any fire in the relationship, it's long since died. "I'm the shadow he walks around," she says. Henry, for his part, tries to hold on to her by promising her a life in the highest circles of London society. "Wouldn't you like to be Lady Miles?" he asks, trying to get her excited about future possibilities.
But Sarah would take passion over prestige any day, and that's what she finds during her stolen afternoons and evenings with Maurice. That is, until a disaster that comes literally out of the clear blue forces her to make a dramatic and mystifying change in her life, one which brings sorrow to all involved.
"Affair" has surface similarities to "The English Patient," the Oscar-winning 1996 hit that cemented Fiennes' place among contemporary matinee idols, and director Neil Jordan (who also penned the screenplay) doesn't skimp on scenes of Fiennes and Moore working up a sweat as they wrinkle the sheets together to the strains of Michael Nyman's ravishing score. But in many ways, this is a much more daring and challenging piece. Sarah's climactic decision and her determination to abide by it regardless of the pain it causes her make this less a romance than a study of a woman's capacity for sacrifice. Sarah metamorphoses before our eyes from a bored, chic housewife into an astonishingly complex and troubled individual desperate to figure out exactly what she's doing and why she's doing it.
In short, it's the kind of role actresses dream of tackling, and Moore runs with it, eagerly trying to sort out the secrets of Sarah's heart. It's a spellbinding performance, one that's very nearly matched by Fiennes, who's piercing blue eyes serve as windows into Maurice's mind. What makes Fiennes such a riveting actor to watch, however, is what he doesn't reveal. We can always feel him holding just a little bit back, silently challenging us to pay closer attention to his words and behavior. As the outsider whose love for his wife is reawakened when he realizes she's lost to him, Rea conveys fully what it's like to be in Henry's lusterless shoes. The trio is superbly supported by Ian Hart and Sam Bould as a father-son detective team caught between the three sides of the triangle.
"Affair" marks a solid comeback for Jordan, whose last film was the almost unwatchable "In Dreams," a cartoonish melodrama about a serial killer (Robert Downey Jr.) and a psychic (Annette Bening). This film returns him to the kind of character-based drama of his best work, such as "Mona Lisa" and "The Crying Game." He cloaks the bodies of his lovers in shadows and rain while exposing their souls. James Sanford
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