The Affair

When this movie reached its end I sat here going "Huh?" I haven't felt this way about a film in a long time, thank goodness. It was highly confusing. I just read in another review here that the title was changed from the title of the book the film is an adaptation of. I suppose the confusion starts there. As I watched "The Affair" I wondered which one the title referred to because there was more than one affair. Who was with whom was unclear to me and I really didn't know what the point of the movie was either. If I can see it again without paying (which I had to the first time) perhaps I will. Then I could redirect my attention.

I watched this movie while preparing supper. I enjoy spending time in kitchen so I walked to the room from time to time and found myself attracted. The picture was presented very well. The relations, emotions ... I was able to feel them.

There was lots of erotic scenes of sex between partners of which one was no really happy about it. Some kind of exploitation because of Nazi threat and Jewish nationality. Yet The core emotion was love between two women and their attachment to house and the architect.

Intriguing. I somehow believe the female-female relationship was something director wanted to focus. Discovering.

I was not expecting much from this film but was actually very impressed with the cinematography and the story. It is well worth a watch and you would have to have a heart of stone not to feel moved by it.

The Affair. Let's start with the Title. It is misleading and confusing. To which affair does it refer? There could be several. Then there is the matter of too many English titled works with the same name. The Glass Room (Sklenený Pokoj) serves the story better as the center room of the house built for Viktor and Liesel serves as a unifier for the story. Yes, there is an affair, more than one to be sure, and one great love story which we the viewers would have loved to see more of, but in between the action becomes confused and shoppy. It is difficult to pick out the particular periods in time represented or how certain people transition. Hanna in particular seems to drift along doing whatever the script calls for without a lot of explanation. Perhaps if we were Czech we would know better, but I doubt it. One wants to like Liesel while she does her best avoid us. Viktor is almost an after thought though a stupidly reckless one at times. At the end of the day we continue to watch out of a desire for something good to happen and when it does we aren't quite sure if it was worth the wait.

It's a very beautifully crafted movie. I love the costume and cast. More to the message of the movie. Even in the darkest time, you can fine a light. Love wins.