The End of the Affair

"The end was just the beginning."

1999 1h 42m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 285

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On a rainy London night in 1946, novelist Maurice Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles, husband of his ex-mistress Sarah, who abruptly ended their affair two years before. Bendrix's obsession with Sarah is rekindled; he succumbs to his own jealousy and arranges to have her followed.

“The end was just the beginning.”

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Cast

Ralph Fiennes
Maurice Bendrix
Julianne Moore
Sarah Miles
Stephen Rea
Henry Miles
James Bolam
Mr. Savage
Ian Hart
Mr. Parkis
Jason Isaacs
Father Richard Smythe
Deborah Findlay
Miss Smythe
Sam Bould
Lance Parkis

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Neil Jordan
Writers: Neil Jordan
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Neil Jordan, shot by Roger Pratt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Nyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tony Lawson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The end was just the beginning.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0172396 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Neil Jordan directs. Roger Pratt behind the camera. Michael Nyman scores. Tony Lawson cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Neil Jordan, shot by Roger Pratt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Michael Nyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Tony Lawson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The end was just the beginning.".
8IMDB entry: tt0172396 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "infidelity", "london, england", "jealousy", "bomb".

The technical file

Cinematography: Roger Pratt
Original score: Michael Nyman
Editing: Tony Lawson
Production design: Anthony Pratt
Costume design: Sandy Powell
Makeup / hair: Demelza Rogers
VFX supervisor: Mark Nelmes
Sound: Robin O'Donoghue
Stunt coordinator: Greg Powell
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $23,000,000
Box office: $10,827,816
Return: 47% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The End of the Affair (1999)

Awards

BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Neil Jordan

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Community reviews

What people are saying

THE-LENS2026-09-19
Film: The End of the Affair Director: Neil Jordan Adapted from: The End of the Affair Release date: 11 February 2000 (UK) Story by: Graham Greene Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea. Review by: Dr Usman Latif Khawaja The movie brings themes of religion, adultery, faith and carnal love intelligently to the screen without making a cliché of a melodramatic love story where a spouse is cheating on her rather indifferent, cold-blooded, bureaucratic husband in a discreet affair. Set in the turbulent London West End during World War II, the movie is almost as calm as the Blitz is otherwise, and the rapture of the two lovers almost makes a perfect adaptation of the complex Graham Greene book, translating spiritually onto the screen. Stephen Rea is the cuckolded husband, while the two eclectic leads, who are the soul of this artistic piece, are the two illicit lovers, played with immaculate brilliance and profound insight by Julianne Moore, who has never looked or acted better, and Ralph Fiennes, who is her clandestine lover in a role better acted than even The English Patient, as they conduct a perilous affair while the bombs fall around them. The religious views are paradoxical, but Neil Jordan successfully explains them in his adaptation of the Graham Greene book, as he has the courage to discover and indulge in his own convictions to define Greene's paradigms. Extremely stylish to gaze upon and even more soulful to ponder upon, this is an examination of a marriage, its flawed harmony, and the final conclusion as to the fact that human infidelity is destined too, just as human matrimony, and as such, both are unavoidable, yet they can be used to come to terms with our own discontent. This is a complex look by Graham Greene on war and adultery and acceptance of the eventual outcome by the affected individuals, which is narrated with an elite charm and panache by Neil Jordan, that brings the whole thing vividly to life, from the secretive lovers' meetings in plush apartments to the private eye who is hired by the curiously estranged husband to follow the enchanting wife in her pursuit of true love. This makes the whole experience rather an ecclesiastical ecstasy to behold and bewilder your spirit in a bizarre yet beautifully brazen piece of literary cinema.

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