This DVD item from Sony Pictures was reviewed on 30-Mar-2009.
The End of the Affair Reference DVD. Classifications : Drama British Cinema By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Video General British Cinema By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Video General AAS British Cinema By Country Art House . Click the following link to view the cover of The End of the Affair. Related topics: 1999. Drama. British Cinema. By Country. Genres. DVD. Video. General. British Cinema. By Country. Genres. requestid: 60f01a5d-b42b-448c-8cd2-a86839bd81e3
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1) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. "The end of the affair" again carves in relief to Neil Jordan as one of the supreme directors in the world. His bull-eye approach about and around the well known autobiographical depiction of Graham Greene, in which an intense love affair will arouse a profound sentiment between these two out of the law lovers in the midst of the bloody WW2.
The drama and visual style in certain dramatic sequences reminds me to David Lean´s "Brief encounter". On the other hand, Julianne Moore had never been so glamorous, alluring and passionate like in this case, his partner Ralph Fiennes, shows there was an immediate chemistry as well as the cheated husband the veteran actor Stephen Rea. But the amazing direction and secure hand of Jordan avoided this film was far to strand and fall in commonplaces thanks his admirable gifts as director.
A supreme film that must be regarded as a new classic of the cinema. Nor more neither less.
¤ 2) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. Based on the 1951 Catholic novel by Graham Greene that is a tale of his own love affair with Catherine Walston, this movie describes love, obsession, jealousy and eventually examines God´s existence.
Maurice Bendrix is a writer, who falls in love with Sarah, a married woman, during World War II. She ends their love affair mysteriously after an incident, in which Maurice nearly dies. Maurice writes a personal story of hate and jealousy. Through flash back techniques, intense loving and passionate memories, great performances and enchanting music, the audience discovers along with Maurice the reason Sarah ended their affair.
Directed by Irish director Neil Jordan, who also wrote the screen play; the trio of Ralph Fiennes, Julian Moore, and Stephen Rea deliver outstanding performances.
Since 1999, this movie remains one of my favorites. Maurice´s personal thoughts and struggle, the acknowledgment of God through man´s weakness and desires was a creative idea of genius. I still remember Maurice´s words:" God, you used my hate to win my acknowledgment. Take care of Sarah and Henry but please leave me alone". Great depiction of human´s struggle with faith, sin, love and life.
A final word of caution: this movie might be beyond some people´s limited mental capacity.¤ 3) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. As a standalone piece of art, the 1999 version of The End of the Affair is passable, though forgettable. Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea are very good. However, Ralph Fines is strangely wooden throughout. As an adaptation of one of Graham Greene´s finest novels (and one of his "Catholic" novels), this movie largely misses the point. Greene was able to cram far more into his 150 page novel (virtually a novella) than got conveyed by this star studded movie.¤ 4) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. I love romance but this film is too sappy by half. Fiennes and Moore´s performances completely turned me off and this had to be the most transparent plot I´ve ever seen. While I usually love corny or romantic stories to distraction, this whole production turned me off. Maybe I´ll check out the original version to see if I´d like that one better.¤ 5) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. Writer Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) and married Sarah Miles (Julianne Moore) had a love affair for several years until she abruptly ended it. Two years later, Maurice meets her husband who suspects she is carrying on with someone; Maurice hires a private investigator to follow her, and falls in love with Sarah again.
This is probably a tear-jerking, steamy, and sentimental love story but I just didn´t feel it. Fiennes, Moore and Stephen Rea, as Sarah´s husband, play 95% of their scenes in slow-motion, with completely expressionless faces staring blankly into each other´s eyes while their stoic voices recite passionate lines. I suppose it´s meant to be very sophisticated and posh, but it seemed phony and empty to me. The character I liked best was Parkis, the private investigator, played by Ian Hart. (Note to Harry Potter fans: This movie has Professor Quirrell, Lucius Malfoy, and Voldemort all together!) Parkis was the one who tied up all the loose ends and was the only character who seemed emotionally open and honest. A nice subplot involving his son made me smile at the end, despite the vacuous love story.
The excellent WWII-period sets and costumes gave the movie a lot of atmosphere; it was the detached acting style that left me feeling nothing. Also, the story constantly switched from present to flashback making it a bit confusing and the addition of a miraculous, spiritual thread was unnecessary and awkward. I didn´t connect with the characters or the love story; 2.5 stars.¤ 6) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. In post-WWII England, an American writer hires a private detective to learn why his mistress ended their adulterous affair so abruptly.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-MAR-2005
Media Type: DVD¤ 7) DVD DVD The End of the Affair by Sony Pictures. "This is a diary of hate," pounds out novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) on his typewriter as he recounts the lost love of his life in this spiritual memoir (based on Graham Greene´s novel) with a startling twist. It´s London 1946, and Maurice runs into his achingly dull school friend Henry (Stephen Rea with a perpetually gloomy hangdog expression). Their meeting is brittle, all small talk and chilly, mannered civility beautifully captured by director-screenwriter Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), and it only barely thaws when Henry suggests that his wife, Sarah (the luminous Julianne Moore), may be having an affair. Maurice´s mind reels back to his passionate affair with Sarah during the war years, which she abruptly broke off two years ago. Gripped with a jealousy that hasn´t abated, he hires a private detective (a mousy, marvelous Ian Hart) to shadow her movements. He prepares himself for the revelation of a rival but instead finds a deeper, more profound secret: "I tempted fate," she writes in her diary, "and fate accepted." Jordan´s cool remove captures the unease beneath formal manners but never warms into intimacy during the scenes between the lovers, even while Fiennes and Moore almost explode in repressed emotions, their faces cracking under their masks of civility and their resolve shaking through jittery body language. There´s more thought than feeling behind this collision of passion and spirituality, but it´s a sincere, richly realized portrait of ennui and rage against God energized by brief moments of shattering drama. --Sean Axmaker¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 27-Apr-2009, 0767847415043396047457, 150-476-MMB-PKB-COB-3OB-X4B-8 
The End of the Affair, DVD, Image © Sony Pictures
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