Film "The Sense of an Ending" Based on Julian Barnes Novel Stars Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling

Julian Barnes (b UK 1946) is gifted and highly distinguished writer of fiction & non-fiction.  His novel "The Sense of an Ending" won the Man Booker Prize ('11) & Barnes was named Commandeur of L'Ordre des Ate et des Letters ('04.)   This exceptionally stirring & insightful novel tells the story of Tony Webster from his insouciant years as a 1960's British prep-student flushed with lust for a strikingly beautiful girl to the present as a 70 something, solitary "curmudgeon."  Barnes brilliant writing scrutinizes youth, aging & memory; simply put, life.  Life is complex, filled with joy, sorrow and entanglements.   Eschewing what life  has wrought diminishes the emotional journey that testifies to ones history.  Tony's closest classmate & girlfriend, Veronica, betray him by becoming a couple.  This hurtful betrayal sparked Tony to send them a vitriolic letter.  Years later, the consequences of his letter & events unbeknownst come to light.  Tony (a superb Jim Broadbent) is a retired divorcee with a daughter (Michelle Dockery "Dowtown") about to give birth.  The senior Tony reflects "I had wanted life not to bother me too much, an had succeeded, and how pitiful that was."  Tony's turns to his ex-wife Margaret (an excellent Harriet Walker) to recall the unfolding events as a student after he receives an unexpected inheritance from the mother of his first love.  The entire casting for both young & old characters is exceptional.  Charlotte Rampling plays Veronica and her young doppleganger is sensational.  The same is true for the youthful Tony.   The sumptuous cinematography captures the look & feel of 60's hip London and rain sodden London town today.  There is plenty to admire & consider in the leisurely paced storytelling which at times is too choppy with past/present.  "The Sense of an Ending" magnificiently captures the essence of Barnes' novel.  The question remains, whether without having read the book, will the film engage an admiring audience?  "What you end up remembering isn't always the same as what you have witnessed."