Review of The End of the Affair (1999) by Hannah D — 16 Apr 2013

Directed by Neil Jordan (The Company of Wolves (1984), The Crying Game (1992) and Interview with the Vampire (1994)), this period drama based on Graham Greene's 1951 novel, which had been previously adapted into a film by Edward Dmytryk in 1955, only that was restrained by the censorship of the time, here Jordan was able to go all the way.

It's a slow, moody film but it looks good and it has a good cast too. Novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes), tells how in 1946, he met up with an old friend Henry Miles (Stephen Rea), who has separated from his wife and mistress Sarah (Julianne Moore), a few years before, Maurice had had a sexual affair with Sarah behind Henry's back during World War 2.

However, when Henry confides in Maurice, and tells him that he suspects Sarah is having an affair, things go awry, when Maurice discovers she's been cheating on him too, so Maurice gets Mr. Parkis (Ian Hart) to investigate, and it leads them to the house of Father Richard Smythe (Jason Isaacs).

Flash back to 1946, and Maurice becomes obsessed with Sarah all over again. It's a dark film, both visually and in terms of the tone, this is a difficult film to love, as everyone in the film is cheating on one another, but Jordan gets the best from his actors, (Fiennes is brilliant as the anguished, obsessive writer), and it captures the time period well.