Review of Brief Encounter (1945) by Maria S — 16 Jul 2009

I'm not sure I fully understood the romance in this film, seeing as how the main characters' relationship mostly consisted of standing on bridges and playing one-sided ping-pong with medical jargon.

I've read that one can't be expected to comprehend this love story unless one's "almost had an affair". Or if one is English. Still, the thing that really made the film for me was Celia Johnson's narration and facial expressions; I genuinely pitied her character.

Also, Rachmaninov's music was well used. My only true gripe about this film concerns an element that is, I suppose, a product of the time: that irritating clipped English.