The End of the Affair film review

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THE END OF THE AFFAIR

The original 1955 film version of Graham Greene's novel - starring Deborah Kerr, John Mills and Van Johnson - was badly miscast and a little heavy on the existentialism and mysticism: a dour and somewhat depressing love story about a married woman who makes a pact with God to end her illicit affair, in exchange for guaranteeing her lover's safety.

In this new adaptation, director Neil Jordan accentuates the fatalism of the lovers' relationship and consequently elevates the film to a whole new level.

Amid the destruction and devastation of wartime London, a young writer, Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes), falls hopelessly in love with his beautiful neighbour, Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore), and begins a torrid affair behind the back of her civil service husband (Stephen Rea).

After a bomb blast nearly kills Maurice, Sarah abruptly terminates the affair and disappears from her lover's life, never offering him a reason for her sudden and inexplicable change of heart.

Five years later, the couple cross paths again and resume their affair, eloping to Brighton to escape memories of the past. But tragedy looms large on the horizon...

Thematically similar to The English Patient, with its heart-rending love affair projected on to a backdrop of wartime destruction and adulterous passions, Jordan's picture is a superbly crafted piece of epic film-making.

The performances are faultless. Moore's English accent is impeccable, and she perfectly complements Fiennes who seems to be carving a niche for himself when it comes to doomed romances. Their scenes together crackle with sexual tension, consummated in some eye-raising bedroom scenes.

Direction and cinematography are both ravishing, capturing the beauty and devastation of the capital during the blitz which contrasts nicely with the inner turmoils of the characters.