Express (UK) TEOTA Article

December 10, 1999

Steamy and sexy ... Ralph stars in another Fiennes romance
BY MARK JAGASIA
SHOWBUSINESS CORRESPONDENT

SINCE his dark and dashing appearance as the lead in Shakespeare In Love, Joe Fiennes has enjoyed the title of British cinema's No 1 heart-throb.

But now that crown is set to be snatched away by his older brother thanks to an astonishingly romantic performance.

Ralph Fiennes's film of Graham Greene's semi-autobiographical novel The End Of The Affair, which opens in America tomorrow, has caused near hysteria among critics. Most believe it will eclipse his previous romantic lead in The English Patient and that the older Fiennes, who has twice come tantalisingly close to winning an Oscar, will undoubtedly get one for this.

Normally measured publications such as the influential trade paper Screen International are dubbing the movie - which also stars Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea, and is directed by Neil Jordan - as an instant romantic and erotic classic. It said: "The film generates more emotional intensity and romantic passion than any Hollywood film this year. It is overwhelmingly moving."

Other critics have started to jump on the bandwagon claiming it features "the most intense love scenes in memory" and "its white hot passion and sex will make the earth move for you".

The film is set during the Blitz and was filmed in London and Brighton, making the locations appear drab next to the impressive desert landscapes of The English Patient.

Fiennes, 36, plays Maurice Bendrix, a novelist who has a passionate affair with a married woman, played by Moore. But in the middle of an air raid she makes a promise to God that if she survives she will break off the relationship. Oscar-winning Juliette Binoche, Kristen Scott Thomas (both of whom were in The English Patient) and Cate Blanchett all vied for the part.

Greene's novel, published in 1951, caused a scandal, as it was dedicated to Catherine Walston, the American wife of a wealthy farmer with whom he had a long-standing affair.

Fiennes told The Express it was the complexities of the role, not just its erotic power, that persuaded him to take it on. He said: "I've always hankered to play a Greene character. They seem very real, not simplistically heroic. In fact they're often anti-heroic.

"Last year some friends suggested that I should play Bendrix. By sheer coincidence Neil Jordan called offering the role."

Fiennes, whose moody aristocrat in The English Patient was also praised for being a complex portrayal of a man in the throes of romantic passion, added: "Bendrix is a tortured character, I love that. I like his anger and his bitterness. I like his hatred. I think that's real, he's got a cruel streak. But then you kind of warm to him, because his hatred and anger is because he's desperately in love."

According to a colleague of Fiennes his portrayal of Bendrix seems set to be the performance for which he will be finally remembered. He said: "It is extremely steamy. But the sex scenes are not aggressive, they are very romantic and tender."After The End of the Affair opens here in February, Fiennes plans to spend the rest of the year playing Shakespeare's Richard II in London before taking the production on tour.