How can Hollywood run short on plots when there are so many great authors from early 20th century Britain alone? Consider the menu: W. Somerset Maugham, D.H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf, and Katherine Mansfield, amongst others. How can a good storyline be so hard to come by these days?
One filmmaker who recently understood this was Irish-born Neil Jordan, whose notoriety still rests with the 1992 gender-bender 'The Crying Game.' In 1999, Jordan quietly released 'The End of the Affair,' a loose adaptation of the novel by late Nobel Prize nominee Graham Greene.
'The End of the Affair' is from Greene's 'Catholic phase' of work that took place years after joining the Roman Church in 1926. For all of his faith, Greene could not escape life's complications and had more than his share of romantic entanglement. This novel is largely autobiographical, toeing the lines of his affair with Catherine Walston that spanned three decades. 'The End of the Affair,' like other such works as 'The Heart of the Matter' and 'Brighton Rock,' focuses on the seemingly hopeless conflict between otherworldly faith and our need to be human.
Neil Jordan took liberties with Greene's plot but stayed generally in line with its tone. 'The End of the Affair' opens in London shortly after V-Day, when a writer Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) meets up with an old friend Henry Miles (Stephen Rea), who suspects that his wife is being unfaithful. Henry's suspicions turn out to be correct, as Bendrix was having an affair with Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore) during the war years before she strangely broke their relationship off.
Without Henry's consent, Bendrix arranges a private investigation, itching to know why Sarah left him. Sarah eventually gets in contact with Bendrix again and we are taken back in time, being gradually exposed to the circumstances of their breakup. What results is a portrait of the 'soul/flesh' conflict, that relentless struggle between an inner need for faith and sexual passion.
'The End of the Affair' is a bleak, challenging work. The majority of this film takes place under rain showers and there is no dominant sunlight until the action moves to Brighton in its final half-hour. The religious themes, which Jordan actually raises to a more prominent level than Greene, will not be to everyone's liking and the final outcome, with a typically British irony, will leave people high and dry. But those who don't mind profundity and exercising their brain should find much to like. Jordan takes big risks in his screenplay, with generally good results: there are times when the film verges on cheap melodrama, but the talent of its cast keeps matters afloat.
Ralph Fiennes is his low-key, effective self in portraying a scruffy writer driven by pleasure and jealousy. Julianne Moore, arguably the most gifted redhead in Hollywood these days, is surprisingly good with her taken-on British accent and fully convinces us of Sarah's vulnerability. Stephen Rea, as the timid civil servant Henry, gets the job done in a drippy fashion, besides good supporting work from Jason Isaacs as Father Smythe (Smythe is an atheist in the novel) with trench-coated Ian Hart and young Samuel Bould as investigators.
The End of the Affair's design team created excellent settings with a 1940s feel and Roger Pratt's cinematography is as sharp as a tack. My only complaint is that Jordan did not make full use of London, preferring a closed-in setup rather than letting the city breathe free. The minimalist score by Michael Nyman ('Carrington,' 'Gattaca') is one of the best I've heard in recent years and has gained considerable following amongst CD buyers.
Julianne Moore and Roger Pratt (also of 'Harry Potter') were nominated for Academy Awards in 2000. Neil Jordan, Moore, and Michael Nyman were also nominated for Golden Globes that year, along with the film itself for best motion picture drama. 'The End of the Affair' is available on DVD from Sony Pictures, the blanket agency of Columbia Pictures. I have to confess that I watched the film in VHS format, which meant full screen presentation and no extras. Treat yourself better.
*** out of 4
One filmmaker who recently understood this was Irish-born Neil Jordan, whose notoriety still rests with the 1992 gender-bender 'The Crying Game.' In 1999, Jordan quietly released 'The End of the Affair,' a loose adaptation of the novel by late Nobel Prize nominee Graham Greene.
'The End of the Affair' is from Greene's 'Catholic phase' of work that took place years after joining the Roman Church in 1926. For all of his faith, Greene could not escape life's complications and had more than his share of romantic entanglement. This novel is largely autobiographical, toeing the lines of his affair with Catherine Walston that spanned three decades. 'The End of the Affair,' like other such works as 'The Heart of the Matter' and 'Brighton Rock,' focuses on the seemingly hopeless conflict between otherworldly faith and our need to be human.
Neil Jordan took liberties with Greene's plot but stayed generally in line with its tone. 'The End of the Affair' opens in London shortly after V-Day, when a writer Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) meets up with an old friend Henry Miles (Stephen Rea), who suspects that his wife is being unfaithful. Henry's suspicions turn out to be correct, as Bendrix was having an affair with Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore) during the war years before she strangely broke their relationship off.
Without Henry's consent, Bendrix arranges a private investigation, itching to know why Sarah left him. Sarah eventually gets in contact with Bendrix again and we are taken back in time, being gradually exposed to the circumstances of their breakup. What results is a portrait of the 'soul/flesh' conflict, that relentless struggle between an inner need for faith and sexual passion.
'The End of the Affair' is a bleak, challenging work. The majority of this film takes place under rain showers and there is no dominant sunlight until the action moves to Brighton in its final half-hour. The religious themes, which Jordan actually raises to a more prominent level than Greene, will not be to everyone's liking and the final outcome, with a typically British irony, will leave people high and dry. But those who don't mind profundity and exercising their brain should find much to like. Jordan takes big risks in his screenplay, with generally good results: there are times when the film verges on cheap melodrama, but the talent of its cast keeps matters afloat.
Ralph Fiennes is his low-key, effective self in portraying a scruffy writer driven by pleasure and jealousy. Julianne Moore, arguably the most gifted redhead in Hollywood these days, is surprisingly good with her taken-on British accent and fully convinces us of Sarah's vulnerability. Stephen Rea, as the timid civil servant Henry, gets the job done in a drippy fashion, besides good supporting work from Jason Isaacs as Father Smythe (Smythe is an atheist in the novel) with trench-coated Ian Hart and young Samuel Bould as investigators.
The End of the Affair's design team created excellent settings with a 1940s feel and Roger Pratt's cinematography is as sharp as a tack. My only complaint is that Jordan did not make full use of London, preferring a closed-in setup rather than letting the city breathe free. The minimalist score by Michael Nyman ('Carrington,' 'Gattaca') is one of the best I've heard in recent years and has gained considerable following amongst CD buyers.
Julianne Moore and Roger Pratt (also of 'Harry Potter') were nominated for Academy Awards in 2000. Neil Jordan, Moore, and Michael Nyman were also nominated for Golden Globes that year, along with the film itself for best motion picture drama. 'The End of the Affair' is available on DVD from Sony Pictures, the blanket agency of Columbia Pictures. I have to confess that I watched the film in VHS format, which meant full screen presentation and no extras. Treat yourself better.
*** out of 4