Betrayal Reviews

Harold Pinter's screenplay for BETRAYAL begins at the end of its story and flashes back to the beginning, permitting the audience full awareness of the outcome as the events unfold, and thus giving those events a weight and structure that linear chronology would not endow on them. Robert (Ben Kingsley) is a book publisher whose wife, Emma (Patricia Hodge), is having an affair with Jerry (Jeremy Irons), a literary agent. The film begins after the affair is over and ends as Jerry and Emma meet. The immensely talented Kingsley is the fulcrum which moves the story backward (or forward, as the case may be). Uttering only a few words, his Robert knows exactly what is going on and conveys a subtle sense of menace. Director David Jones fashions a brisk film, despite having to deal with Pinter's lengthy silences. Hodge, who should have been the center of attraction, comes across as a mite cool--it's hard to see how she inspires passion in these two very different men. Once you've grasped the reverse chronology, the events peel away in layers that produce unexpected insights along the way.