Review of Brief Encounter (1945) by Christopher P — 29 Nov 2008

In this early film by the great David Lean, based on a play by Noel Coward, we see how love affairs can often begin so innocently, but turn into something devastating. The doctor and the housewife both loved their families, and had no desire to leave them, but there was an emptiness in their lives and it was filled when they were together. When they finally decide it cannot go on, the separation is miserable. Was the thrill, the knowledge that something was missing, the feeling of being alive worth it? This film says perhaps not. But that may have more to do with the British censors.

It is a simple film with a simple story, beautifully photographed, but somewhat stiffly acted, and a heavy reliance on voiceover narration, which began to bother me. This is still a quality film by early Lean.