The End of the Affair (1999 film)

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The End of the Affair is a 1999 romantic drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea.

The film was based on The End of the Affair, a 1951 novel by British author Graham Greene, which had been adapted as a film in 1955 with Deborah Kerr. The film depicts an extramarital affair which lasts from 1939 to 1946. It is set during World War II and its aftermath.

Plot

On a rainy London night in 1946, Maurice Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles, husband of Maurice's former mistress, Sarah, who abruptly ended their affair two years before. Bendrix's obsession with Sarah is rekindled; he succumbs to his own jealousy and works his way back into her life.

As the story unfolds in 1946, we also see flashbacks of Bendrix with Sarah as they began their affair in 1939. Henry tells Bendrix that he believes Sarah is having an affair, so Bendrix hires the bumbling but amiable Mr. Parkis, who uses his young birthmarked son Lance to investigate. Sarah asks Bendrix to meet to talk about Henry and the cold tentativeness of their interaction is contrasted with the passion of their earlier encounters.

Bendrix learns from Parkis that Sarah has been making regular visits to a priest named Father Richard Smythe under the guise of false dentist visits and he grows increasingly jealous. Flashbacks show Bendrix expressing jealousy of Henry and asking Sarah to leave him.

Though Sarah and Bendrix express love to each other, the affair ends abruptly when a V-1 flying bomb explodes near Bendrix's building as he is out in the hallway. Bendrix falls down a staircase and awakes later, bloodied but not seriously hurt. He walks upstairs, where Sarah is shocked that he is alive. Bendrix accuses Sarah of being disappointed that he survived and she leaves, telling him, "Love doesn't end just because we don't see each other."

In 1946, Parkis obtains Sarah's diary and passes it on to Bendrix; it shows the affair from her perspective. After Bendrix is hurt by the bomb, Sarah runs downstairs and finds him still and not breathing. After trying to revive him, she runs back upstairs and begins to pray for Bendrix's life. Just as she says to God that she will stop seeing Bendrix if he is brought back, Bendrix comes into the room.

Now knowing why Sarah ended the affair, Bendrix follows Sarah and begs her to reconsider. Sarah tells Bendrix that she has felt dead without him and can no longer keep her "promise" to God. Henry, who has figured out that it is Bendrix who was Sarah's lover, desperately asks Sarah not to leave him but, with more persuasion from Bendrix, Sarah agrees to go away with him for a weekend. Henry tracks the couple down to tell them that Sarah has a terminal illness.

Bendrix stays with Henry and Sarah over her final days. At her funeral, Parkis tells Bendrix that his son's birthmark went away after Sarah kissed it during a chance encounter. At Henry and Sarah's house, Bendrix completes his book and it is revealed that his diary of hate is directed toward God. While Sarah doesn't need to see God to love Him, Bendrix prays God will leave him alone, thereby finally acknowledging His existence.

Cast

Music

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Michael Nyman later used "Diary of Love" to open and close his solo album, The Piano Sings (2006). As with many of Nyman's 1990s scores, he incorporates material from his String Quartet No.3, which was in turn based on a choral piece titled Out of the Ruins.

Track listing

  1. Diary of Hate 2:38
  2. Henry 1:46
  3. The First Time 2:16
  4. Vigo Passage 1:04
  5. Jealous of the Rain 5:29
  6. The Party in Question 3:45
  7. Intimacy 3:04
  8. Smythe with a "Y" 1:55
  9. Dispossessed 3:22
  10. Love Doesn't End 4:31
  11. Diary of Love 5:16
  12. Breaking the Spell 1:20
  13. I Know your voice, Sarah 4:10
  14. Sarah dies 3:01
  15. The End of the Affair 2:59

A contemporary recording of "Haunted Heart" by Jo Stafford is heard in the background during several scenes and the closing credits.

Reception

Critical response

The film holds a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 66 critics. The site's consensus states: "Neil Jordan has good direction with solid performances from Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore."[1] On Metacritic it has a score of 65% based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

Accolades

Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Actress Julianne Moore Nominated [3]
Best Cinematography Roger Pratt Nominated
British Academy Film Awards Best Film Stephen Woolley and Neil Jordan Nominated [4]
Best Direction Neil Jordan Nominated
Best Actor in a Leading Role Ralph Fiennes Nominated
Best Actress in a Leading Role Julianne Moore Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Neil Jordan Won
Best Cinematography Roger Pratt Nominated
Best Costume Design Sandy Powell Nominated
Best Make-Up and Hair Christine Beveridge Nominated
Best Original Film Music Michael Nyman Nominated
Best Production Design Anthony D. G. Pratt Nominated
British Society of Cinematographers Awards Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film Roger Pratt Nominated [5]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress Julianne Moore Nominated [6]
Chlotrudis Awards Best Actress Nominated [7]
Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Screenplay Neil Jordan Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [8]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Julianne Moore Nominated
Best Director – Motion Picture Neil Jordan Nominated
Best Original Score – Motion Picture Michael Nyman Nominated
Humanitas Prize Feature Film Category Neil Jordan Nominated [9]
London Film Critics Circle Awards British Film of the Year Nominated
British Actor of the Year Ralph Fiennes Nominated
Actress of the Year Julianne Moore Nominated
British Screenwriter of the Year Neil Jordan Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Julianne Moore Template:Runner-up [10]
Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Actress Nominated [11]
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Nominated [12]
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Film Template:Draw
USC Scripter Awards Neil Jordan (screenwriter)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".;
Graham Greene (author)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		Nominated [13]
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References

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Further reading

  • Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh, eds. The Encyclopedia of Novels Into Film (2nd ed. 2005) pp 117–118.

External links

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