Film Review: Brief Encounter (1945)
The size and scope of Brief Encounter may stand in stark contrast to David Lean’s more adventurous later works, but its story holds as much power as any of them. This small, measured film draws no influence from the works of Charles Dickens or English colonialism, nor does it feature any exploding bridges or heroic charges across wide-open desert landscapes. Yet, despite its relatively quiet nature, it matches and perhaps even surpasses the emotion found in Lean’s many epics and love stories.
With just a few locations and an acting pair any director would die for, Brief Encounter far surpasses the sum of its parts by expertly conveying what happens when an electrifying connection between two strangers collides with duty, loyalty, and principles. This heartfelt exploration – adapted from a one-act play by Noël Coward – paints a vivid picture of wartime England as circumstance drives two weary souls together in an underground railway station café, draws them closer together in the light of day, and then compels them to part when their lives outside of one another begin to intrude.
What’s remarkable is that the relationship between Laura and Alec (Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard), while clearly flirtatious and intellectually stimulating for both, is not immediately steamy in the way we’ve come to expect from movies about infidelity. There is no “swept off her feet” moment or long-awaited embrace and passionate kiss. It’s all so innocent that, if you’re not paying attention, it might seem as if there’s no romance at all.
But there is romance, and plenty of it. Brief Encounter may lack obvious and flashy outward sparks but buried beneath several layers of British manners and wartime stoicism is one of the most believable romantic pairings of the ‘40s. Johnson and Howard’s chemistry is a wonderful thing to behold, so much so that despite everything, we know that the feelings they have for one another will ultimately prove fatalistic. The same wartime stoicism that makes them so believable also makes them honest, and you can’t careen toward infidelity with such an enormous amount of weighty honesty clinging on your back.
A lesser pair, regardless of what the script instructed, would have devolved Laura and Jack into schmaltzy star-crossed lovers instead of the strong-willed and proud pair they are. Habit alone could easily have altered the trajectory of Brief Encounter. But, luckily for us, Lean and his cast had sense enough to stick to their guns and create an altogether different kind of wartime love story.
United Kingdom • 1945 • 86 minutes • Black & White • 1.837:1 • English • Spine #76
Criterion Special Features Include
- High-definition digital transfer of the BFI National Archive’s 2008 restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary from 2000 by film historian Bruce Eder
- Interview from 2012 with Noël Coward scholar Barry Day
- A Profile of “Brief Encounter,” a short documentary from 2000 on the making of the film
- David Lean: A Self Portrait, a 1971 television documentary on Lean’s career
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by historian Kevin Brownlow
