• Rating:
• Genre: Romance
• Movie Type: Romantic Drama, War Romance
• Themes: Extramarital Affairs, Star-Crossed Lovers, Message From God
• Director: Neil Jordan
• Main Cast: Heather-Jay Jones, Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea, Ian Hart, Sam Bould
• Release Year: 1999
• Country: UK/US
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Based on the novel by Graham Greene, this romantic drama stars Ralph Fiennes as Maurice Bendrix, a novelist who, during World War II, had an affair with Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore), the wife of his best friend Henry (Stephen Rea). Sarah abruptly broke off the romance in 1944, but two years later, after Maurice runs into Henry, he becomes obsessed with the affair and hires a man to investigate Sarah. He reads her diary of their forbidden romance in the midst of the London Blitz and discovers that, overwhelmed with fear and guilt, she pledged to God that she would end the affair if Maurice's life were spared. Maurice is determined to reintroduce himself into Sarah's life, but she fears that being near him would be too great a temptation. The End of the Affair was previously brought to the screen in 1955 by Edward Dmytryk; this version was written for the screen and directed by Academy Award-winner Neil Jordan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

In his adaptation of The End of the Affair (1999), Neil Jordan transforms Graham Greene's first-person novel into a lushly romantic -- and surprisingly unsentimental -- story of passion and piety in World War II London. Playing another brooding, thwarted lover, Ralph Fiennes limns the depths of jealousy that threaten to poison Maurice Bendrix's feelings for Julianne Moore's married Sarah long after their assignation has ended. Repeating pivotal scenes from different points of view, as first Bendrix and then Sarah recalls the progress of their affair, Jordan portays Bendrix's investigation into Sarah's post-war life as a bitter search eventually transfigured by her transcendent adoration. Stephen Rea's cuckolded husband and Ian Hart's deceptively comical private investigator add further dimensions to the central philosophical conflict between Bendrix's secular love and Sarah's religious conversion. Though critics quibbled over Jordan's interpretation of the novel, few could argue with The End of the Affair's period detail and handsome photography or Moore's alternately restrained, carnal, and ethereal performance as Sarah. Moore went on to earn her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for her work. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Ralph Fiennes - Maurice Bendrix
• Julianne Moore - Sarah Miles
• Stephen Rea - Henry Miles
• Ian Hart - Mr. Parkis
• Sam Bould - Lance Parkis
• Heather-Jay Jones

Jason Isaacs - Father Smythe; James Bolam - Mr. Savage; Deborah Findlay - Miss Smythe

Credit

Graham Greene - Book Author; Neil Jordan - Director; Neil Jordan - Producer; Neil Jordan - Screenwriter; Tony Lawson - Editor; Michael Nyman - Composer (Music Score); Anthony Pratt - Production Designer; Roger Pratt - Cinematographer; Chris Seagers - Supervising Art Director; Joanne Woollard - Set Designer; Tony Woollard - Art Director; Stephen Woolley - Producer; Patrick Clayton - First Assistant Director; David A. Stephenson - Sound/Sound Designer; Susie Figgis - Casting; Sandy Powell - Costume Designer; Kathy Sykes - Co-producer; Jon Billington - Art Director

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