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Deciding to confront the husband of his longtime mistress after she reveals that she has let on about their affair, a British book publisher is surprised to learn that the husband has known of the extramarital affair for years in this quiet yet intense drama from the pen of Harold Pinter. The film intriguingly unfolds in reverse chronological order, beginning with the aforementioned confrontation and then flashing back further and further in the past to examine how the affair managed to develop to its current point. Some have criticised this narrative style as a gimmick, but on the contrary, it fits in incredibly well with the publisher's shock over the husband (also a longtime friend) knowing about the affair; it almost feels as if he is searching his memory for hints of the husband being clued into the affair that he may have missed at the time. Whatever the case, Jeremy Irons (as the man having the affair) and Ben Kingsley (as the knowledgeable husband) deliver pitch perfect performances throughout with Kinglsey subtly radiating animosity in the flashback scenes - particularly a restaurant luncheon - something all the more pronounced due to Irons being so ignorant of it and so conceited to believe that nobody knows of the affair. Patricia Hodge is less effective as the woman in the love triangle, never all that alluring; Dominic Muldowney's music is sometimes overbearing too. Generally speaking though, this is a handsome production as well as a testament to how much a film can achieve with minimal sets, lots of dialogue and an ending revealed at the beginning.

An ingeniously constructed movie, adapted from his play, by celebrated writer Harold Pinter, directed by Sam Spiegel, "Betrayal" shows in reverse order, the end and beginning of an extra-marital affair between a gallery-owner and her publisher husband's best friend. In a reversal of convention, we see the ravelling as opposed to the unravelling of a relationship going wrong with the backtracking device keeping the viewer watching right to the last "genesis" moment.

The characterisation does betray a little chauvinism, you do lose a little sympathy for the cuckolded Ben Kingsley character after he admits to serial philandering of his own, but for me the film succeeds by not judging the characters at all, more they're put under the microscope like lab rats for the voyeuristic viewer to examine their behaviour and come to one's own moral judgement.

To stand up to this scrutiny without deadening proceedings requires good acting and that's unquestionably the case here with Jeremy Irons and Patricia Hodge as the stars-uncrossed lovers and Kingsley as the jilted husband. The acting is restrained and avoids for the most part ostentation although occasionally you can see the twitches and tics of Irons and Kingsley kick in a la the Dustin Hoffman method-acting manual. You get the impression sometimes of scenes requiring several takes as the actors strive for naturalism, at which points it's better to enjoy Pinter's way with rhythmic dialogue and dramatic pauses - as ever he's especially good at picking up on the mundaneness of everyday conversation, even if the world of galleries and authors is probably somewhat rarefied to the rest of us. The film seeks to avoid its theatrical beginning with occasional outdoor shots as well as often employing background noises as the world outside the three's own isolated but entwined worlds come apart. Otherwise the direction is smooth but never intrusive and avoids overtly sexual scenes which I might otherwise have anticipated from the plot.

Although not perfect, this was an engrossing and entertaining examination of human emotions when love goes wrong, right and finally wrong again.

The great master of Theatre, Harold Pinter, brings us the seduction of one of his (in my opinion) best plays. With stunningly clued performances by Irons, Kingsley and Hodge, the play seduces as it unfolds, and every scene is charged with a sexual tension. A daring step for film and writing, the plot is shown backwards and both the end and beginning are so beautifully touching because you know what will happen, as well as what has already. A triumph of the cinema.

Emma (Patricia Hodges) is married with Robert (Ben Kingsley), who is the best friend of Jerry (Jeremy Irons), who is the lover of Emma. The originality of this romance is the way it is told to the viewer, backwards, from the present to the past. Although being theatrical, it is supported by an outstanding cast and is a good entertainment. Basically there is no soundtrack along this drama. My vote is seven.

Kingsley is masterful as Robert, the successful publisher, who puts in delectable perspective the fact that he is also a feckless and cuckolded husband. Patricia Hodge, a beautiful and talented British actress whose impressive body of works rarely make it to this side of the pond, is utterly perfect as the embodiment of Emma. Jeremy Irons is fine as well, although not quite as outstanding -- and that may say it all right there.

The dialogue is pithy, ironic, sardonic, dry, brittle, and pointed -- vintage Pinter. But, the central plot device of starting at the latest point in time and have successive scenes show what came earlier, seems a bit forced and gimmicky -- although the excellence of Patricia Hodge's eyes in the final scene makes all of it worthwhile.

Altogether, I'd rate it 7 of 10 -- certainly worth seeing.

This movie is brilliant. All the actors, especially Ben Kingsley, were superb. When Ben Kingsley is in the scene, you are riveted to his every expression. Especially when you watch it for the 2nd time, and know what they know at every given point. Also, thinking about the actual betrayals. I loved the dialogue, references from scene to scene, relationships between the characters, and the backward progress of it all. Pinter's work is incredible. Because of what you know at various points in the plot, you can see what's going on inside the characters. Patricia Hodge and Jeremy Irons give truly amazing performances - and Mr. Kingsley is just mind-blowing.

I sure hope it comes out on DVD one day - my VHS copy is running down.

This is bit like reading a book from back to front, reading chapter nine before you read chapter one. That does present quite a quirky way to tell us a story, but by starting where we end it does rather rely on us being and remaining engaged with the characters if we are to stay with it. Sadly, despite some quite savage writing at times, I found it more like a series of self-obsessed ping-pong games between "Jerry" (Jeremy Irons) and his best friend "Robert" (Ben Kingsley] who is married to "Emma" (Patricia Hodge) with whom "Jerry" has been having an affair. What isn't quite clear, initially, is just when the husband found out about the treachery around him but as we wind back, sequentially, we fill in a few of the gaps and I realised that I really didn't rate any of these people as human beings on just about any level. That, sadly, is when I lost interest. It maybe doesn't help that it is set in the rarified world of publishing, literary agents and high-ceiling abodes in London's leafy Hampstead where the wine flows freely and the verbiage likewise. There are some pithy exchanges between the two men, exacerbated by us watching knowing what they, presumably, don't about each other but again I found them entirely deserving of their lots in life. It has a very theatrical look to it - all it doesn't have is the lights fading and the curtain dropping between scenes, and I found the pacing dragged down by some of their extremely repetitious conversations. "You remember? "No, I don't", "Of course you do"... Perhaps that very banality is expressive of the institution of marriage, or of cheating on the one you did marry, or want to marry, or won't - but in the end, I was unconvinced by the thread of the story and by three actors who are all capable of much more potent performances.

I watched this movie because I heard that the screen-writer had used a unique structure--the story is told backwards in time. Every succeeding scene occurs chronologically before the previous one. I wanted to see if the screen-writer was just using a gimmick, or if the structure actually added to the telling of the story. I was overjoyed to find out it was the latter! The magic of this movie is that Pinter makes the time sequence seem natural. By the end of the movie, the viewer is convinced this is the only way the story could have been told effectively. I highly recommend this movie to all who love cinema.

One of Pinters best plays, this one is filmed with just a superb cast. Jeremy Irons looks like he's about to steal the film, then Ben Kingsley sneaks up on you with an odd stiff but wounded performance that takes your breath away. I loved the woman too. A masterfully told story of love and desire, and pain within relationships. Not easy to watch, not very 'flash', but worth it indeed.

This film has no sense,no conclusion,no interesting plot or whatsoever. I believe that people usually overvalue old films, as though they are supirior to new ones and they overlook clear flaws, which for instance can obliterate a new film in a matter of seconds. For example this story doesn't seem real at all, the betrayed husband behaves like he's mentally ill or something, very unnatural and so does his friend. Combine this with a boring storyline and a bad drama and thus you get the picture. But, here it comes - a merit of this film, very good english pronunciation of old times, as a prefer it, the only thing that kept me going through this "work".

This brilliant movie starts with a meeting between Jerry and Emma two years after their relationship has ended; then proceeds backward, thereby ending eight years earlier, with the moment when Jerry first declares his attraction to Emma at a party. The idea that the viewer can know this information at the beginning of the movie and then is never bored is an amazing feat for this movie. All three of the actors are amazing in their roles.

It has often been said that great books can not be made into great movies, that is not the case here. This is a story by one of the greatest writers in the English language since Shakespeare and screen play by the one man who truly understood the agony behind the story. Mix that with three of the best English actors of the modern age and you have a mesmerizing story in cinematic form. Do not miss this movie if you are a fan of great literature and great movie making. At first the reverse chronology may seem a bit confusing, but ultimately it proves the genius of the director's ability to plumb the depths of the friendship and the relationship of all the characters in this sad, sad story. You will not be disappointed.

This is a really fine movie with excellent characterizations. I've never seen Patricia Hodge in anything else but in this movie she's the equal of Irons and Kingsley. It's interesting how the movie starts with the very emotional end works it's way back to the innocuous beginnings.

This was a horrible movie. It seemed to have nothing but head shots of two people talking about their relationship, which I found incredibly boring. The bizarre moving backwards in time made it incomprehensible as well - Memento made moving backwards a key part of the movie, whereas here it seemed to be something purely aimed at giving the art house crowd something to talk about. I saw it in the theater, and was so bored and confused that I walked out (with my date) half an hour in.

It was the first movie I ever walked out of, too; in fact, I might have been cubear's date. I was with my girlfriend at the time, and we walked out about a half hour in. Horrible. A lot of hyper-dramatic dialogue presented out of chronological sequence so it was almost impossible to follow, and I just didn't care enough about any of the characters to make it worth the work of following the incredibly confusing sceenplay.

Is Ben Kingsley always a great actor? Sure. But he has to have to have something resembling decent material to work with. Honestly, people were just discussing what was the worst movie ever, and - excepting truly laughable turkeys like Plan 9 from Outer Space - this was the movie I thought of.

Exquisite play by Pinter, and screenplay has fantastic dialog. Acting by three main characters - played by Ben Kingsley, Jeremy Irons, and Patricia Hodge - is brilliant. You get pulled into watching each expression, each word. As the movie unfolds, and the deeper you get into it, you can see what is "behind" those expressions. Ben Kingsley's performance is truly phenomenal !! Since the plot moves backwards in this movie/play, you see the backward evolution of the relationships here. And the various ways of betrayal within those relationships. It is fascinating and mind-blowing - not in any outlandish special effects way, but in the subtleties and interactions of the 3 characters.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. HOWEVER, I've been looking for a copy of it in DVD or even VHS - but can never find one. Does anyone have any ideas??

I will not read any of the reviews for this movie (yet): I want to write my own. I saw this movie in my mid 20's (I paid to see it in a dark dingy theater): back then, it was somewhat wasted on me. Now, in my mid 50's, I suddenly recalled it, and realized what a chord it strikes (which is why I am giving it a rather high score). I won't be saying anything new here: it documents the disintegration of a wonderful relationship between a couple, but documenting it from present day, and going gradually backwards in time, up to the moment of the very first touch and kiss. If I can find this movie - I will see it again. PS: I was surprised that when I did a search of "Betrayal" on the IMDb database this movie did not show up: I had to find it indirectly by searching for "Patricia Hodge".

I saw this movie in the late 1980s. I loved Ben Kingsley, Patricia Hodge, and Jeremy Irons in so many movies, I couldn't see how in the world this could be anything but a beautifully done piece. I was wrong.

I was about five minutes in when I started gagging on the dialogue. It was atrocious! This is an actual dialogue sample, near as I can recall it:

Hodge: "I'm going to tell him." Irons: "You're ... going to ... tell him?" Hodge: "About us." Irons: "About ... us?" Hodge: "Yes. I'm going to tell him about us." Irons: "You're going to tell him about us."

I mean, was there screenwriter strike I didn't know about and they called in a plumber to write that? Or were the filmmakers deliberately trying to destroy the actors' careers and give the audience a lobotomy at the same time?

It just got worse from there. IMDB shows the long (intensely long) quote when Irons declared himself to Hodge. It's disgusting. Something about how she wore white at her wedding and he was the best man, but he should have "HAD" her so it would've been a black wedding. I interpret this as, "I love you, therefore I must pollute you." If only women got as much respect as our planet. We fine people for polluting the planet, and nobody ever says "let me pollute the planet because I love it." What's even funnier is there are people who think that's a great declaration of love. How is declaring that you want to spoil someone and make them impure equal to love on any level? It just sounds selfish and vile. And most of the movie is about these two selfish and vile characters deliberately hurting everyone.

Okay, I can't comment on the "artistry" of the project--most of it was set in a cheap, tacky looking apartment, suitable for a cheap, tacky affair.

I guess it's like the artistry of "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Goya. Yep, that's artistry all right.

Ben Kingsley, in his finest film, plays "Jerry", a sweet likable guy married to "Emma", played by the famous British actress Patricia Hodge. Jeremy Irons plays "Robert" who is Jerry's best friend, and who is also sleeping with Emma.

This innovative movie plays backwards in time, starting at a cafe meeting of old friends, Jerry and Robert, long after the divorce is final. This is such a clever film, you know it must be based on a play, and it could only be a British play because Hollywood just cannot write with anywhere near the wittiness of this film.

Even though the movie is about adultery, we all know that adulterous affairs usually end sadly, and so the movie starts out very sad and moves to much more happy times. Kingsley is outstanding when he throws a fit about "Why you'd never want to have a woman come to watch you play tennis!" Irons and Hodge do a thorough job of betraying Kingsley, and Kingsley with his acting talent drives the knife into the viewer, by being just as sweet and innocent as a new-born babe.

The movie plays backwards in time; every scene occurs months or years before the next, sort of like "Same Time Next Year", a famous Alan Alda movie, but much, much better. The writers show their strength by deriving witty and ironic connections between each of the scenes. The movie unfolds like a piece of fine origami paper.

This is a movie for single people to see. It does not have a sad ending, but I sure cannot forget the movie, 17 years after I saw it. Now that I'm married, it would probably tear my heart out to see it again. See this movie while you're young, before someone BETRAYS you!

The extramarital affair of the wife of a publisher with his best friend is followed over several years and told in reverse.

This film has a considerably greater reputation than it deserves: it's a very cheap-looking production that looks more like some 1970s made-for-television BBC play. I would have a lot of questions if I were to find out the cast were paid in anything more than sandwiches.

The conceit of the film, that each scene chronologically occurs before the previous one, has been done a number of other times, most successfully in Christopher Nolan's near-faultless Memento. There, each scene leads to the next (i.e. last) one seamlessly, filling in more and more of the mystery as it goes back. Here there is none of that: the scenes could easily just be a series of flashbacks that somehow forget to go back to the present day, with very little progression of any kind. There are no surprises to be found out, and by the end, we haven't found out anything new about the markedly unsympathetic characters that we didn't know 5 minutes in, so it's hard not to come to the conclusion that the film was stuctured this way simply to dress up a mediocre plot in the hopes of making it seem a little less like a routine soap opera.

Where it succeeds is in at least some of the dialogue and most of the acting: Jeremy Irons and Patricia Hodge are excellent (if unlikeable), conveying an awful lot of detail with their pauses and looks. Ben Kingsley less so, appearing less prepared or invested, but maybe the part just didn't give him enough to work with.

It's still a passable watch with some good moments but Betrayal has absolutely nothing to say you haven't heard five hundred times before.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this film! Huge fan of Harold Pinter. Patricia Hodges is excellent. What terrific actress. They're all good. Both Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley are perfect. The story told in reverse makes sense and adds to tension of storyline. The ending is so beautifully crafted the very last scene stayed with me.

Then watched it yes twenty thrity years later and although I love ol' boy in this , Ben Kinsely was so incredible he was timeless as if he jumped out of some strange eerie picture of some indignant ghost in some arcane picture on the wall that came to life and haunted the story cause he stole the film because coupled with the writing and the creation of the writer to conceive this person , so compelling I was wrapt the character is so intersting how he handles the whole situation but I think above all that is how it unfolded backwards like that leaving behind lil' diamonds of clues - beautifully done and performed! Masterpiece!