Product Details

• Actors: Courtney B. Vance, Kerry Fox, Leland Gantt, Ned Beatty, Bill Nunn
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: November 12, 1996
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303924670
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,629 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

World War II, England. A young black soldier falls in love with a married white woman - an affair which soon finds him on trial for his life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Race, War and Love, August 26, 2003

By 

Johnnie Quezada "The Q" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Affair [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In "The Affair" Courtney Vance gives a strong performance as a Black G. I. stationed in England during W. W. II who meets and falls in love with a married Englishwoman. It is a compelling story because it dramatizes how dangerous love, whether extra-marital or not, could be between a Black man and a White Woman. It should be recalled that during W. W. II black and white soldiers in the U. S. still served in separate divisions. Racism, though somewhat less pronounced, still was rampant within the U. S. military and with that came the usual strong prohibition against sexual relations between the races. However, war, perhaps more than any other setting, allows for all kinds of situations. It was within this volatile mix of war and entrenched racism that a Black G. I. meets and falls in love with a White Englishwoman.
This is a movie that engages its audience at many levels. It can be seen as a Romeo and Juliet type of love tragedy, as a cautionary tale of the effects of war on both soldiers and civilians alike or, finally, as a reminder of the long road that U. S. society had yet to travel on the road to racial equality. Unfortunately, U. S. society is still on this road and has not yet reached its end. Perhaps, fine movies such as this one can spur faster movement toward the end of the road where there lies the racial equality that MLK spoke of forty years ago.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellant movie of love and betrayal, August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Affair [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Vance stars as WWII black G.I. When the G.I.s are stationed in England he meets a married Englishwoman on the welcoming committee. They see more and more of each other until it becomes an affair turned to love. One night when the Englishwomans husband comes back from the war, they go to see his parents. The woman leaves early to see Vance at there usual meeting spot. But, they are found out by the husband and a plot so thick with hate is revealed. The ending to this movie is one I will never forget, of deciet, love, honor, and revenge.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I saw this a couple years ago and it's one of my favorites.., February 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Affair [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The affair between the English wife and the American soldier was probably one of the best, and saddest, stories I've watched in a long time. The wife must choose between keeping her affair a secret and condemning the man she's fallen in love with or risk losing her son. It's a hard choice, glad I don't have to make it.