Movie Review #3 - The Affair (2019)

Villa Tugendhat is an architecturally significant building in Brno, Czech Republic. It is one of the pioneering prototypes of modern architecture in Europe - and was designed by the German architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. The building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001. It inspired The Glass Room, the novel on which this movie is based. Even with this background information, however, the movie remains one big question mark, leaving the viewer with incomprehension. 

The Villa Tugendhat is central to the film, but apart from some beautiful shots, the movie never really captivates. That has several causes. First, the story takes place over several decades, which makes it difficult to get emotionally connected with the characters, who alternate at a rapid pace (except for Liesel and Hana). Second, there are scenes that are never finished, which makes you miss whole parts of the story, adding too much confusion to the viewer at any given moment. 

Besides the visual aspects of the movie, which are definitely of a good quality - the acting performances of the main cast are also of a high level. Carice van Houten and Hanna Alström in particular deliver excellent performances and convincingly portray their character. The problem is that the character development is only so nil that these acting performances remain underexposed. 

The book "The Glass Room" has been a great success, something that the movie "The Affair" based on this novel definitely has not been (or will not be). Somewhere elements have been lost that ensured that the book was fascinating. In the end, the movie turns out to be nothing more than a bunch of mixed scenes (sometimes without an ending) with clear story - and at the moments when there is a story to discover it is excruciatingly dull. 

Conclusion and Rating:

All in all, it might be the least cohesive and boring movie I have ever seen, which explains the extremely low rating. The beautiful visuals and excellent acting performances don't outweigh that, because they didn't manage to captivate (even one moment). 

Rating: 1.8