Review: The End of the Affair (1999)

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The End of the Affair

Rating

Director

Neil Jordan

Screenplay

Neil Jordan (novel: Graham Greene)

Length

1h 42m

Starring

Ralph Fiennes, Stephen Rea, Julianne Moore, Ian Hart, Jason Isaacs, Deborah Findlay, James Bolam

MPAA Rating

Review

“Love knows very few boundaries” barely sum up the complex and beautiful “The End of the Affair.” Director Neil Jordan has had a hard time living up to his best work on 1992’s “The Crying Game,” but “Affair” is his best effort since.

Ralph Fiennes (“Schindler’s List” and “The English Patient”) plays Maurice Bendrix, a love-stricken novelist who bases his latest book’s main character on Henry Miles (“The Crying Game’s” Stephen Rea), a seemingly apathetic politician. Julianne Moore (“Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia”) plays Sylvia, Henry’s wife, who seems less interested in Henry than she does in politics.

“The End of the Affair” interestingly weaves in and out of the present and the past explaining the reasons behind the strange love triangle of the three main characters. Henry and Maurice both love Sylvia, but only one of them can have her, or can they? Henry is a melancholy, marital supportive husband whose love for his wife is hidden so deep inside that not only can he not express it, his wife can’t see it and so turns her affections to another man. Maurice is a God-less artist with a passion for Sylvia so deep that it transcends the legal ramifications Affairs can have in 1940s Europe.

Perhaps fate deals everyone’s final blow in “The End of the Affair.” It seems to conspire against each character so heavily that love is both inevitable and unattainable. Moore proves that she can carry the weight of a leading role easily holding her place next to Fiennes’ growing stardom. Rea is touchingly sympathetic with seemingly little effort. All three play off of one another so well that their characters are as attached to one another as the story needs them to be.

The story does meander back to certain moments too often, but seldom feels clichéd. The intricate details inherent in the subject matter are so stunningly woven into the fabric of the film that only the slow pace stops it from becoming a marvelous romantic classic. The production and costume designs are exquisite. The cinematography is breathtaking and the editing, while unevenly paced at times is still on target.

When the end of the film arrives, you feel both relieved and saddened by the events that have transpired. The hopefulness and the hopelessness of the lives of Maurice, Henry and Sylvia are so beautifully rendered that a person would be hard-pressed not to feel something strong and reaffirming about the fates of the characters.

Awards Prospects

Julianne Moore will likely get a nomination. I can also see some nominations in the technical fields (art direction, costume design and cinematography). Fiennes would get a nomination in a less-filled year, as would Rea. The film could get picture and director nominations, but I’m not holding my breath on that.