February 22, 2002
Now Neil Jordan's adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair is a tale of love, sex and jealousy.
The affair in question begins when a successful home-office worker's wife meets an up and coming novelist and they fall all-consumingly in love. The 'end' of the affair occurs during an air raid when they are both almost killed. Ralph Fiennes plays well what he plays best, really - a clipped tongued, good looking novelist, who's love for Sarah Miles (skillfully played by Julianne Moore) feeds his irrational and obsessive jealousy. The star of the show is Stephen Rea who plays the gentle, over worked husband, loving his wife in his own reserved way.
The film is vaguely reminiscent of The English Patient with, (apart from Ralph Feinnes), beautiful music and an interrupted time line. Because the two time lines are only two years apart, it's sometimes a bit difficult to differentiate between the 'present' (1941) and the 'past' (1939). Some of the twists are very clever (others a little obvious) with different perspectives on the same scene conveying feelings and reveal misunderstandings far better than a simple narrative could. The only criticism I have of it is that it was dragged out just that little bit too long. There is a feeling of finality twenty minutes before the end of the film, which makes you feel you're being subjected to an epilogue from then on.
The End of the Affair is a stylish tearjerker, with a fantastic soundtrack and some very good acting - don't forget to take your hanky though.
The affair in question begins when a successful home-office worker's wife meets an up and coming novelist and they fall all-consumingly in love. The 'end' of the affair occurs during an air raid when they are both almost killed. Ralph Fiennes plays well what he plays best, really - a clipped tongued, good looking novelist, who's love for Sarah Miles (skillfully played by Julianne Moore) feeds his irrational and obsessive jealousy. The star of the show is Stephen Rea who plays the gentle, over worked husband, loving his wife in his own reserved way.
The film is vaguely reminiscent of The English Patient with, (apart from Ralph Feinnes), beautiful music and an interrupted time line. Because the two time lines are only two years apart, it's sometimes a bit difficult to differentiate between the 'present' (1941) and the 'past' (1939). Some of the twists are very clever (others a little obvious) with different perspectives on the same scene conveying feelings and reveal misunderstandings far better than a simple narrative could. The only criticism I have of it is that it was dragged out just that little bit too long. There is a feeling of finality twenty minutes before the end of the film, which makes you feel you're being subjected to an epilogue from then on.
The End of the Affair is a stylish tearjerker, with a fantastic soundtrack and some very good acting - don't forget to take your hanky though.