The End Of The Affair (18)
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea and Ian Hart
Opening date: 3rd December
The End Of The Affair is about a man (Ralph Fiennes) who has an affair with his
friend's wife. It ends (surprisingly) but the man meets up with her husband years later. He
confesses that he thinks his wife is having an affair, so Fiennes' character hires a private
detective. The film's method of story-telling didn't work at all - we were first shown a string
of events from the man's point of view, then the same events from the woman's perspective. This
was a very tedious way to present facts that would've been communicated in a much more effective
(and economical) way. It meant we had to watch virtually the same piece of film twice - the
differences in their stories weren't substantial enough to warrant this method.
Much was made, by the other characters in the film, of Fiennes' character's jealousy. They
kept referring to his terrible rage - but we saw little evidence of this. The fact that he hires
a detective to follow his former lover is a little creepily obsessive, but Fiennes' portrayal of
a jealous man was very understated, to put it kindly. However, the actor who played the
detective, Ian Hart (who appeared as John Lennon in the film Backbeat) deserves a
mention. He brought a slightly comic edge to this rather exaggerated, hand clasped to brow,
drama. The film's only other saving grace is Ralph Fiennes' perfectly rounded bare bottom in the
first half an hour of the film. I would leave at this point, as it's the most exciting element
of the film. I wouldn't wait for the end of the deliriously dull affair.
by Sarah McIver.