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By Frances Flynn

 

TRYON—Tryon Fine Arts Center closes out its Love Stories film series with the 1999 award-winning film The End of the Affair on Tuesday, May 14. Showtimes are at 2 p.m. (matinee), with a second showing at 7 p.m.

Set in war-ravaged London and the following bleak years there, The End of the Affair is a poignant love story based on the 1951 novel by Graham Greene. The novel itself is somewhat autobiographical, with Green’s main character, Maurice Bender, as an author based on himself, and the leading female role, Sarah Miles, based on Green’s own lover at that time, Catherine Walton, to whom he dedicated the book. The novel also includes Greene’s own experience of having his house bombed during the blitzkrieg of World War II. An underlying theme in the film is the struggle between religious faith and the reality of desperate circumstances. 

This is the second version of the film, the first being released in 1955. The story was revived again in 2004 when it premiered as an opera with music by Jake Heggie and Libretto by Heggie, Heather McDonald, and Leonard Foglia.

For her leading role of Sarah Miles in the film, Julianne Moore received the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her co-star, Ralph Fiennes, was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTA Awards. Roger Pratt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Neil Jordan was nominated Best Director – Golden Globe Awards. Ralph Fiennes, or at least his glasses, also won the Best Eyewear Award at the GQ Men of 2000 Awards.

The Tryon Fine Arts Center Box Office opens at 1:30 pm for the 2 o’clock matinee and at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments and time to meet up with friends before the evening show. For more information about this film series and other events at TFAC, visit tryonarts.org or call (828) 859-8322.