Cheap Brief Encounter - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard) (David Lean) Price
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It so happens that their schedules coincide at the train station every Thursday, and their casual attraction grows, through quiet conversation and longing expressions, into the desperate recognition of mutual love. From this point forward, Lean turns this utterly precise, 85-minute film into a bracing study of romantic suspense, leading inevitably, and with the paranoid, furtive glances of a spy thriller, to the moment when this brief encounter must be consummated or abandoned altogether. Decades later, the outcome of this affair--both agonizing and rapturous--is subtle and yet powerful enough to draw tears from the numbest of souls, and spark debate regarding the tragedy or virtue of the choices made. A truly universal film, with meticulously controlled emotions revealed through the flawless performances of Howard and Johnson, and an enduring masterpiece that continued Lean on his course to cinematic greatness. --Jeff Shannon
| ACTORS: | Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | David Lean |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 24 August, 1946 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Criterion Collection |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | Black & White, Closed-captioned |
| TYPE: | Feature Film-drama |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 037429150726 |
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Customer Reviews of Brief Encounter - Criterion Collection
Simply one of the best films ever made. Beautiful. Brief Encounter is a classic film that turns one into a film lover. Based on a play by Noel Coward, and directed by David Lean, the pedigree of this film shows through in every respect. On face value, it's the story of a British middle-class married woman named Laura, played by Celia Johnson, who finds herself in love with a married doctor, played by Trevor Howard, during the WWII era. The story employs flashbacks and is narrated by the character Laura herself. This film hooks you from the first moment.
Beneath the romantic plot are poignant themes...the seductiveness of mischief, the absurdity of romance, redemption, loyalty, even anarchy and the break-down of Victorian value systems. There are relatively daring ideas as well, given the era in which this film was made. Adultery, passion, deception, and even suicide are dealt with, but are handled with maturity and with respect for the characters and the audience.
The performances are powerfully restrained and truthful, particularly that of Celia Johnson as the tortured almost-aldulteress (remember, this is 1940s England). The many smaller roles in the film are so carefully crafted and memorable, every detail is so vivid, I understand why my standards are high and why many modern films seem to leave me empty.
The charms of Brief Encounter also include humor, inexplicably beautiful dialogue, haunting Rachmaninoff music, and cinematography at its best. If you are an anglo-phile, you'll devour the details of a train station, the station's waiting room/snack shop, a suburban household, a pharmacy and more. And if British stiff upper lip-ping is your cup of tea, well...Brief Encounter seems to have invented it.
Although Brief Encounter is successful simply as a romance - no less than 2 hankies will do - this film is really a masterpiece to be cherished.
A Classic of the Romantic Cinema
Everyone who has loved and lost his/her object of affection will feel deeply touched by this little unforgettable movie. It's one of the earliest David Lean's work, but also very effective as "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia". Based on "Still Life", a play by Noel Cöward from the serie Tonight 8h30, the film is a flashback recalled by one character, after apparting from the love of her life
Laura (Celia Johnson) and Alec (Trevor Howard) are two married ordinary people who happens to meet by chance and fall for each other later. They meet every Thursday in Milford, she goes there for shopping and the library and he goes to replace for a doctor friend os his in the local hospital. As the love affari develops in such a peace that it is impossible not to get in the mood with them, and root for the lovers.
Lean uses many resources that he would use again in his epic films, such as the antecipation of the final result early in the opening credits. We can see Laura's and Alec's train crossing and going to different directions. After that we know we are about to watch an unfortunate love affair. I don't see it as a mistake, it made me longing to know what had led them to such an unhappy ending.
To sum up, this is one of my favourite movies. Every time I watch it I have a different response to it. Most of them are sad, and wondering how short life can be and we more and more seem not to be prepared for some tricks of faith. I mean most of the time we have either-or questions to solve, and we are not ready to give up some things in order to get the other. Like Laura: what does she choose? Either a man she loves very much but barely knows -- and she doesn't feel brave enough to stay with him -- or her husband and children? If you were on her shoes what would you choose?
Encounter Brief Encounter
1946's Brief Encounter, directed by David Lean (of Doctor Zhivago fame, which he would later direct in 1965) is a great film full of subtlety, romance and melancholia. Shot in black and white, this film is almost a signature of the 40's, as was the more popular and successful Casablanca. Without mention of World War II, this film deals with internal struggles of the heart. Cecila Johnson stars as the romantic heroine, a married woman and Trevor Howard the love interest, a married doctor. Though it's apparent they are disenchanted with their marriages and they are in love with each other, they never fully give in to a passionate affair. It's a romance that is mostly feelings and emotions, furtive glances, sighs, talk and regular meetings that are brief in a train station.
David Lean is experimenting with many techniques, particularily intimate angles and interior monologue. No film can ever top his Doctor Zhivago, but this film is at least second best and good for its time in 1946. There is a particularly impressive scene in which the lovers are interrupted and Celia Johnson's character must take a train trip with a very chatty, annoying woman friend. The older woman chatters away and we tap into Celia's thoughts. "I wish she would stop talking.. I wish she were dead" (I thought this was hilarious because we are wishing the same thing by that point)....but then she reprimands herself and comes to the conclusion, after a tiring day, that life does not last, that nothing really lasts forever, neither happiness nor despair. It's very poignant. Another reason besides the great acting and the story itself is the fact that Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, regarded as his finest, is played in this film. The dramatic, romantic storm that is the first movement, followed by a melancholy adagio, is very effective for this type of film.