The End of the Affair Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)December 16th, 1999
PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
Neil Jordan’s (In Dreams) latest is a lean adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel of the same name. There isn’t much to the story (some even say that the book would have been better as a novella) and there aren’t many characters. But thanks to first-rate acting talent and gorgeously dark cinematography, The End of the Affair is still a winner.
The story takes place in London during and after World War II, where Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore, An Ideal Husband) steps out on her boring, loveless, civil-servant husband Henry (Stephen Rea, Guinevere) to have a torrid affair with a novelist named Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes, The Avengers). Their trysts begin in 1939 and the two carry on unchecked for years until one day Sarah abruptly calls off the relationship without even giving Maurice a reason.
Years later, Maurice is still perplexed about the termination of their affair. Believing that she left him for another man, he hires a private investigator (Ian Hart, Enemy of the State) to shadow his ex-lover. Their relationship is shown in a series of intricate flashbacks, with the first half of the film from Maurice’s perspective and the second from Sarah’s as he reads it from a diary lifted by the PI.
Jordan’s unique structure and Roger Pratt’s (12 Monkeys) haunting camera work complement the great performances from Fiennes, Moore and Hart. The story of jealousy and lust is simple and predictable, yet in the capable hands of this cast and crew, The End of the Affair is always entertaining.
1:49 - R for nudity and scenes of strong sexuality
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