The End of the Affair

"It's the simplest of stories but the dramatic core is very strong," says Neil Jordan of Graham Greene's novel on which The End Of The Affair is based.



Inspired by Greene's own affair with Catherine Walston, the story tells of an adulterous romance between writer Maurice Bendrix and civil servant's wife Sarah Miles. Miles breaks off the affair and Bendrix only later discovers that it is not another man who came between them but a bargain she made with God.



For Jordan, the casting was crucial to making this intense drama of moral dilemmas "understandable and believable in human terms". Ralph Fiennes proved a natural choice for Bendrix as far as the director and his long-time collaborator, producer Stephen Woolley, were concerned. "I thought Ralph would convey that disenchanted, embittered 1940s intellectual," says Jordan. When it came to choosing Sarah, Jordan tested several actresses but says Julianne Moore "blew me away". His decision more than paid off when Moore was nominated this year for best actress in the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. Jordan regular Stephen Rea took on the role of Sarah's husband Henry. "It was a real challenge for Stephen, but he manages to portray Henry sympathetically without putting the other characters in a bad light," says Woolley.



After a limited US release at the end of 1999, The End Of The Affair was released in the UK in February and has since opened internationally. Besides best actress, it scored an Oscar nomination for Roger Pratt's cinematography, and Golden Globe nods for Jordan and for Michael Nyman's score. It also won several awards at this year's Baftas.