The End of the Affair (1999)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writers (WGA):

Graham Greene (novel)
Neil Jordan (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 December 1999 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The end was just the beginning.

Plot:

On a rainy London night in 1946, novelist Maurice Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles, husband of his ex-mistress Sarah...

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Obsession | Extramarital Affair | Cuckold | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Ralph Fiennes	...	Maurice Bendrix
Stephen Rea	...	Henry Miles
Julianne Moore	...	Sarah Miles
Heather-Jay Jones	...	Henry's Maid (as Heather Jay Jones)
James Bolam	...	Mr. Savage
Ian Hart	...	Mr. Parkis
Sam Bould	...	Lance Parkis (as Samuel Bould)
Cyril Shaps	...	Waiter
Penny Morrell	...	Bendrix's Landlady
Simon Fisher-Turner	...	Doctor Gilbert (as Dr. Simon Turner)
Jason Isaacs	...	Father Richard Smythe
Deborah Findlay	...	Miss Smythe
Nicholas Hewetson	...	Chief Warden
Jack McKenzie	...	Chief Engineer

MPAA:

Rated R for scenes of strong sexuality.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #36457) | Iceland:L | Malaysia:18PL | Singapore:R21 | Hong Kong:III | Spain:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:M | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The film that Maurice and Sarah see is 21 Days (1940). Graham Greene, the author of novel on which The End of the Affair is based, co-wrote the script for 21 Days, although the name of the film they see in the novel is never mentioned.

Quotes:

Maurice Bendrix: I hate you, God. I hate you as though you existed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

Soundtrack:

Life Begins at Oxford Circus

Remake of the 1955 film of the same name, a fine modern version.

First, my complaint. I saw "The End of the Affair" on DVD, and although the picture is always exquisite, the dialog in quiet scenes is sometimes impossible to understand. We had to resort to using the "subtitles" feature on the DVD to understand dialog in two key scenes. Fortunately you can easily do this on the DVD.

The story is set in London in WWII, spanning 1939 through 1946. I did not see the 1955 movie of the same name, but one critic described it, in part...

<quote>When I thought the film had come so far to bring so much of human existence, with all its emotions, philosophy, belief, and religion to the fore, the film found more fertile ground. The relationships are complicated, and the nature of faith, God, sin, and belief become part of the complex mix, along with the very human desire to do the right thing. Sarah most particularly must struggle with these age old questions as she searches from sources of different, even contradictory viewpoints. The dilemmas and questions all of us ask at one time or another are dealt with in a detailed manner, without passing along the answer to everything. What could have been trite turned out to be a film much more than the premise, and even more than the sum of its parts. <un-quote>

All I can say is "amen" to that for the 1999 version. I found it to be a totally absorbing film and rate it a solid "8" of "10".