INDEPENDENT FILM FOR INDEPENDENT MINDS

The End of the Affair takes place during the days and months following World War 2, when life in England is slowly returning to normal. We meet the not-so-happily married couple of Sarah (Julianne Moore) and Henry Miles (Stephen Rea). During the course of their union, they have drifted apart. Henry, a workaholic, admits to not having been much of a husband and never having been a true lover to his wife. Novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes), a friend of the couple's, once filled the latter function. During the summer of 1939, he and Sarah met and began a torrid affair. They professed undying love for one another, and, while Henry worked long hours on the war effort, Maurice and Sarah spent the time in Maurice's flat. But, on a night when Maurice was seriously wounded in a German air raid, the relationship abruptly ended. When Sarah left him, he was bitter and angry, and all of his love turned to rage and hatred. Sarah, on the other hand, believed in a pure love - a kind that would endure to her dying day, even if circumstances prevented her from ever seeing Maurice again. Several years after the end of the affair, Maurice has a chance meeting with Henry, who confesses to his old friend that he believes Sarah is being unfaithful. The ugly specter of jealousy rears its head for Maurice - even though he has not seen Sarah in years, he cannot bear the thought of her being with someone else. In fact, he once said, I would rather be dead or see you dead than see you with another man. So, pretending to act on Henry's behalf, he hires a private investigator (Ian Hart) to follow Sarah and learn the identity of her new lover.