| | |  | The Novels of Sarah Waters | Home » » » Affinity | | | | | | | Description: | | Anna Madeley, Zoe Tapper. Sarah Waters' powerful novel details the daring escapades of the wealthy Victorian lass, Margaret Prior. Prior, while mourning the death of her father, decides to find new purpose in her life by visiting female inmates at the Millbank Prison. But her mission takes on a new persona as she finds herself infatuated with the attractive Selina Dawes, a medium imprisoned for assaulting a young girl at a seance. 2008/color/94 min/NR/fullscreen. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Zoë Tapper, Anna Madeley, Domini Blythe, Amanda Plummer, Mary Jo Randle | | Director:
| Tim Fywell | | Format:
| Color, Full Screen, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| MTV | | Run Time:
| 120 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| August 19, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 13 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 13 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Elective AffinitiesSep 25, 2009
By Amaranth
"music fan"
"Affinity" is a surprisingly good thriller set in a women's prison during Victorian times. Margaret Prior (Anne Madeley) is devastated by her father's death;to make matters worse, her former lover Helen is now wed to her brother. She decides to be a lady visitor at a women's prison. In a sense,it symbolizes women's imprisonment at the time. Margaret is expected to marry&bear children--but she keeps her secret "locked tightly inside her." Selina Dawes (Zoe Tapper) is literally imprisoned, apparently for an accident that happened during a seance. The conventions of the time are confining. Anna Massey,a classic British actress,stars as a prison matron.
Margaret finds herself falling in love with Selina. Their union is primarily platonic (unlike other Sarah Waters movies)--there are only a few chaste kisses at the end. Margaret finds herself haunted by spirits. Her locket carrying Helen's hair vanishes; she mysteriously receives flowers. She finally has the strength to break her engagement with Theophilus.
"Affinity" is an engrossing movie. The cast is uniformly excellent. Like Sarah Waters' previous movie "Fingersmith",con games are important to the plot. The final plot twist is heartbreaking,and surprised even me. Despite its use of overused tropes (women in prison, suicidal lesbians, same-sex relationships basically doomed to tragic ends),it succeeds as a thriller.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Interesting story!Oct 09, 2008
By dcg
Interesting story! As expected, it is beautifully filmed, the dialogue is convincing and the actresses are wonderfull - like other Sarah Waters stories. The actresses do a wonderful job in displaying love for one another, despite the lack of love scenes between them. I Really enjoyed the twist in this one, very unexpected! I give it a 4 however, because the end was a bit disappointing. I agree with the previous reviewer in that if you like happy endings movies, this one will likely dissapoint. Overall though, I though it was a very good movie and worth a look.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Awesome movieJan 01, 2013
By youcanbuyme
This movie is so intriging. The story is awesome yet heart breaking at the same time. I love it! The twist was crazy!
 Didn't Work for Me At AllAug 22, 2011
By Jamakaya
This film version of Sarah Waters' brilliant novel "Affinity" seemed rushed and muddled and had very little emotional impact on me. I recognize that it must have been challenging to adapt the book, whose strengths are its detailed character development and slow ratcheting up of psychological tension. Although the book has action scenes and dialogue, much of the story is built on the internal thought processes of characters which cannot be as easily conveyed in a movie.
The film's use of flashbacks to show the backgrounds of the main characters (a device used effectively in the book to slowly reveal character and keep you on edge) were too fleeting and, even for someone who has read the book, confusing. Two other weaknesses undermine it. The lead actresses, altho lovely to look at, are sort of one-note, not very subtle actors and I didn't feel any chemistry between them that would support them developing a real passion for each other (which is rather crucial to the concept of "Affinity"!). There is also a third character who plays a critical role in the story who is only brought in minimally at the very end of the movie. If you haven't read the book, you are likely to wonder where the heck she suddenly came from and what her motivations are/were. I wonder whether they shot additional scenes with her that maybe ended up on the cutting room floor, because her placement in the movie just seems so clumsy.
The special features section of the DVD includes interviews with the director, producer and screenwriter (the great Andrew Davies, who penned the excellent screen versions of "Pride & Prejudice," "Bleak House" and "Little Dorrit"). I couldn't help thinking as I listened to these three men repeatedly refer to the women characters as "girls" and make simplistic statements about female needs and desires that the whole project would have benefitted from having women at the helm.
Sarah Waters' book "Affinity" is a really gripping, emotional story. Skip this video and read the book. The film versions of Waters' Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, both produced by the BBC, are MUCH better and highly recommended!
"Affinity" Video Is WonderfulJul 02, 2011
By Nancy Ellen
The acting and the sets are wonderful. Generally, the movie is faithful to Sarah Waters' novel; unusually, I would say it improves on and enhances the work it is adapted from. The special features include excellent interviews with the author, the scriptwriter, the director and two of the actors which add tremendously to appreciation of the work.
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