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Sunday, May 26, 2013

BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1946)

Trains that pass in the night

This exquisitely crafted British classic was directed by the great David Lean and based on Noel Coward’s 1935 half-hour one-act stage play “Still Life.” It’s one of filmdom’s great romantic tear-jerkers. Simply told and emotionally honest, BRIEF ENCOUNTER is a peek into the quiet desperation involved in a brief extramarital love affair between two married, middle-class Brits who meet in the refreshment tea room of a railway station and continue to see each other over seven weekly meetings. Laura (Celia Johnson) is a wife and mother hungry for escape from her humdrum life and sterile marriage; Alec (Trevor Howard) is a kind young doctor. The  passion between them is obvious, yet the film maintains chaste minimalism throughout – a credit to the writing, direction and British sensibilities of the time. You'll want a box of tissues nearby for the ending.

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