The End of the Affair

Today, at7.30 pm, at Sala Palatului, the fourth edition of The European Film Festival opens, organised by the Delegation of the European Commission and the Union of Filmmakers in Romania. “The End of the affair” (1999), by Neil Jordan, starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea and Ian Hart, is the English production chosen for the opening night of the Festival. The movie has a very special score, composed by famous Michael Nyman, one of Peter Greenaway favourites. “The End of the Affair” had no less than ten BAFTA nominations and Julianne Moore ran for the Oscar for best actress this year.

Neil Jordan is one of those writer-directors who don’t quite grasp the first rule of literary adaptations: what reads well on the page doesn’t always translate well to celluloid. The story is actually a beguilingly simple love triangle that could have worked wonderfully had it not been hampered by a deadly slow pace and pretentious, irrelevant philosophising. Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes), a novelist, has an affair with Sarah (Julianne Moore, nominated also for a Golden Globe) in 1944. Sarah abruptly ends the relationship and Maurice doesn’t know why. She doesn’t love her husband (Stephen Rea) and her husband Henry doesn’t really love her either; their marriage is a sham, a useless tradition, a habit they find difficult to drop.

It is now 1946 and on a rainy night Maurice encounters Henry walking in the park. Henry is worried that Sarah is cheating on him. Maurice offers Henry the services of a private detective. He staunchly refuses and Maurice leaves, but on his way out, he passes Sarah on the stairs. The old flame lights again inside him; out of jealousy he hires a private detective (Ian Hart) to follow Sarah around.

Though it’s not a film to be emotionally involved with, “The End of the Affair” will surely keep your attention, mostly due to the hypnotic Michael Nyman score and the production design. The camera is always in the right place, slow motion film stock is used effectively and Jordan just all-around knows what he is doing. It’s an old-fashioned film, supposedly representing a temporary return to the good old days of cinematic bliss when movies could sweep you off your feet with their sheer romanticism.