Brief Encounter (1945) ( Noel Coward's Brief Encounter )

Brief Encounter (1945) (Blu-Ray) (*)

$23.99

Original Title: Noel Coward's Brief Encounter
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Cannes Film Festival
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( Blu-Ray/Region B )

Running Time:
86 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Documentary
Featurette
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1945 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
David Lean

Written By:
Noel Coward

Actors:
Celia Johnson ..... Laura Jesson
Trevor Howard ..... Dr. Alec Harvey
Stanley Holloway ..... Albert Godby
Joyce Carey ..... Myrtle Bagot
Cyril Raymond ..... Fred Jesson
Everley Gregg ..... Dolly Messiter
Marjorie Mars ..... Mary Norton
Margaret Barton ..... Beryl Walters, Tea Room Assistant
Wilfred Babbage ..... Policeman at War Memorial (uncredited)
Alfie Bass ..... Waiter at the Royal (uncredited)
Wallace Bosco ..... Doctor at Bobbie's Accident (uncredited)
Sydney Bromley ..... Johnnie, Second Soldier (uncredited)
Nuna Davey ..... Herminie Rolandson, Mary's Cousin (uncredited)
Valentine Dyall ..... Stephen Lynn, Alec's 'Friend' (uncredited)
Irene Handl ..... Cellist and Organist (uncredited)
Dennis Harkin ..... Stanley, Beryl's Man (uncredited)
Edward Hodge ..... Bill, First Soldier (uncredited)
Jack May ..... Boat Rental Man (uncredited)
Avis Scott ..... Cardova Waitress (uncredited)
George V. Sheldon ..... Clergyman, Train Passenger (uncredited)
Richard Thomas ..... Bobbie Jesson (uncredited)
Henrietta Vincent ..... Margaret Jesson (uncredited)

Synopsis:

Based on Noël Coward's play "Still Life," Brief Encounter is a romantic, bittersweet drama about two married people who meet by chance in a London railway station and carry on an intense love affair. Sentimental yet down-to-earth and set in pre-World War II England, the film follows British housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), who is on her way home, but catches a cinder in her eye. By chance, she meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), who removes it for her. The two talk for a few minutes and strike immediate sparks, but they end up catching different trains. However, both return to the station once a week to meet and, as the film progresses, they grow closer, sharing stories, hopes, and fears about their lives, marriages, and children. One day, when Alec's train is late, both become frantic that they will miss each other. When they finally find each other, they realize that they are in love. But what should be a joyous realization is fraught with tragedy, since both care greatly for their families. Howard and Johnson give flawless performances as two practical, married people who find themselves in a situation in which they know they can never be happy.

Brief Encounter is a classic romantic drama set in 1945 during WWII in and around the fictional Milford railway station. A married woman, with children, Laura (Celia Johnson), meets a stranger, a doctor (Trevor Howard) named Alec in the station's waiting/tea room, who kindly removes a piece of grit from her eye then leaves to catch his train. During her following shopping trips to Milford, Laura bumps into Alec and a friendship begins to develop. Soon the meetings become a fixed arrangement.At home in her living-room sitting with Fred, her husband (Cyril Raymond), we learn her story through the device of her voice-over telling him (and the audience) in her imagination what happened.As their relationship grows Alec and Laura find themselves drawn to each other and falling in love. They begin to regularly attend the cinema and visit the surrounding area during short spells of time together. Finally they exchange kisses at the railway station to confirm their feelings. Yet Laura is both uncomfortable and elated, excited by the attention of a loving man but guilty about being unfaithful to her perhaps passionless husband. Laura continues the deception and embarks on a passionate platonic extramarital affair. After much hesitation she gives in to Alec's pleas and joins him at his friend Stephen's apartment, but Stephen (Valentine Dyall) returns unexpectedly to his flat and a guilt-ridden Laura runs away. Alec later catches up with her and they agree to end the relationship but gradually rather than at once. Alec then breaks the news that he is soon to leave the country after receiving a job offer from his brother in South Africa - he asks that she meet him next week for a final rendezvous. This takes place the following Thursday, a day in the country, and a romantic but sad visit to the station waiting room where, over tea, their final goodbye is interrupted when they are joined by an acquaintance of Laura's. Alec leaves the two women stealing only a touch to Laura's shoulder as he goes to catch his train. This scene was played out to open the film as a teaser, but now we have learned of its significance. Laura is devastated and has an emotional meltdown when she returns home to her husband and goes back over the events in her mind. She does not share this information with Fred, but he seems to know what she has been through, and has great sympathy for her.We are left with the feeling that they will continue their safe, comfortable, middle-class marriage with a better understanding and appreciation in the reality of what they have.

Expanded from a one-act stage play by Noel Coward, Brief Encounter is without doubt one of the true masterpieces of British film history. The story seems slight--a respectable suburban housewife has a chance meeting with a handsome married doctor, their friendship becomes romance, but they feel the pressures of convention pulling their relationship apart--but the writing, acting and direction are sublime, turning what might have been just another melodrama into a memorable and heartbreaking story of impossible love. David Lean went on to make much bigger films than this, but few of those epics packed the emotional punch of this picture, set in a mundane world of railway stations, semi-detached houses and inexpensive cafes. Trevor Howard is perfectly cast as Alec, the doctor, but the film belongs above all to Celia Johnson, as the heroine Laura. It's easy to mock her clipped ultra-English accent, but she gives one of the greatest screen performances imaginable, brilliantly evoking how an ordinary life can be turned upside down by unexpected passion. Throw in the superb use of Rachmaninov's swooning Second Piano Concerto, shrewd supporting acting from Cyril Raymond, Joyce Carey and Everley Gregg, and some of the best black-and-white photography of its era, and the result is irresistible. Anyone who isn't besotted with Brief Encounter has either never been in love, or doesn't deserve to be.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 02 October, 2011.

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