Brief Encounter (1945)
1h 26m | PG-13
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
Director: David Lean
Studio: Cineguild
Genre: Drama, Romance
Video: 720p
Cast
Celia Johnson
as Laura Jesson
Trevor Howard
as Dr. Alec Harvey
Stanley Holloway
as Albert Godby
Joyce Carey
as Myrtle Bagot
Cyril Raymond
as Fred Jesson
Everley Gregg
as Dolly Messiter
Reviews
Based on Noël Coward's play "Still Life" this is a super adaptation from David Lean as Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard meet in a railway station café and 90 minutes later we have been on a roller-coaster of emotions, all delicately and subtly discussed, as these two eminently middle class English people challenge their long established "civilised" values and conventions of behaviour. It's style is it's simplicity - the script is poignant and charming; if a little dated now. Stanley Holloway provides an occasional breath of air during this quite intense drama, and who can ever forget that Rachmaninoff is a huge star of this, too?