"Brief Encounter" (1945)

One particular Thursday in a railway station café in Milford, Laura, a housewife (played by Celia Johnson), meets Alec, a doctor (played by Trevor Howard). They meet again by chance, and again until a friendship blossoms. Despite the fact they are both already married, they inevitably and quite unwittingly fall in love with each other and continue to meet, though knowing the whole thing is impossible under the circumstances. The film was directed by David Lean, and based on a 1936 one act play named "Still Life" which was written by Noel Coward.

I really, really like this movie! Even if it is a kind of bittersweet one. I love the simplicity of the plot. There’s something really quite romantic about it. It’s so subtle and innocent and centered purely around the characters. I love all the characters too. Even the ones that aren’t central to the plot. The people we see in the café have some good lines now and again that made me smile and their personalities are engaging.

I love the manner in which the characters speak and deliver their dialogue. It reminds me of that in Mary Poppins, which I’ve always adored. I love their mannerisms in general.They use big words naturally and don’t abbreviate a single word. They’re so polite towards one another in a way that simply doesn’t seem to exist anymore. And as I say, there’s such an innocence about them.

I loved Laura’s narrations and the insight we get into her thoughts. How the others’ dialogue would fade, just as it would for her as she slipped into her own mind. I loved the whole structure of the story in general and how the movie sort of did a whole round-about-turn as it was her explaining what had happened throughout the movie to get us to where we were at the beginning. Come the end, we see the beginning from a different perspective and all was not as it had initially seemed.

Much of the film was shot at Carnforth railway station in Lancashire, then a junction on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Filming took place in early 1945 before WWII had finished. Noel Coward actually makes the station announcements in the film. The station's café was a studio recreation. Carnforth Station still has many of the period features present at the time of filming and remains a place of special importance for fans of the film.

The music for the film was provided by composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. It's perfect and adds so much to each scene. It just makes it far more emotive for the audience. Excerpts from his Piano Concerto No.2 recur frequently throughout the film.

Celia Johnson (1908-1982) was more famous as a stage actress, and only made a handful of films. Her film debut was in Noel Coward's earlier film, "In Which We Serve" in 1942. For her role as Laura in this film, she received a nomination for Best Actress at the 19th Academy Awards. David Lean was also nominated for Best Director in this year. The film also received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 1999 the film came second in a British Film Institute poll of the top 100 British films.

In 1946 the film was adapted as a radio play starring Greer Garson. It was also presented three times on The Screen Guild Theater, first in May 1947 and then in January 1948.

I never thought this would be a movie I could come to love so much. But now that I’ve seen it, I really do. I recommend it 100%.

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