Thursday, April 15, 2010

198. Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter (1945)

Director: David Lean

Starring: Celia Johnson
Trevor Howard
Stanley Holloway

IMDb Rating: 8
My Rating: 8

"Nothing lasts really. Neither happiness nor despair. Not even life lasts very long. There'll come a time in the future when I shan't mind about this anymore, when I can look back and say quite peacefully and cheerfully how silly I was. No, I don't want that time to come ever. I want to remember every minute, always, always to the end of my days."


A man and a woman are sharing a table in a crowded train station cafe. They have mutual looks of emptiness and despair on their faces. A rather chatty lady sits down and begins to talk to the couple. Soon the man gets up to leave and gently places his hand on the woman's shoulder. The moment seems rather insignificant, until we are taken back to the couples first meeting. Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) ventures into the small town of Milford once a week to do some shopping and take in a afternoon matinee at the local movie theater. One afternoon while waiting for her train home, she gets a small piece of grit in her eye. Luckily Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) is there and helps her remove the debris from her eye. This short encounter leads to an affair between the two, who are both married to other people. Their story, although short and fleeting, speaks volumes about the matters and desires of the heart.

Brief Encounter is a fairly simple film. I am usually quite turned off to films about infidelity. I remained open minded before and during my viewing of the film though, and actually found it to be a rather piercing and amazing tale. Different from films like Unfaithful, this film focuses much more on the emotional aspect of an affair, rather than the physical. With this angle, the film does test the viewers moral beliefs and actually leaves you rooting for their eventual happiness. The film's ability to do this, I think speaks to it's excellent story and the manner that it is told.

Our couple played by Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard are absolutely wonderful together. The relationship while unconventional, maintains that feel of a classic cinema romance. Johnson is emotionally charged if nothing less. Her vulnerability comes across as the most authentic piece of acting in the film. Howard's performance is much more subtle, but equally as wonderful. The character's personalities compliment each other almost as good as Johnson and Howard do. Their complete performance as a couple is truly what drives this film.

Brief Encounter might be a film about being unfaithful, but it approaches the subject with class and maturity. It's never vulgar or crude, although it was still banned in a few countries during it's initial release in 1945. I liked this film very much. It's focus on the emotional aspects really did make the subject matter much more intriguing and thought provoking. This movie comes with an definite endorsement from myself.

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