Brief Encounter (1947)

[quote] I was wondering what it is about it that makes it work...still.

Rachmaninoff, darling. Rachmaninoff

Americans can't grasp the accents. All that heavy RP can be overwhelming.

Recently saw Trevor Howard in The Cockleshell Heroes on television. In a veddy stiff upper lipped manner he is very good looking.

Not exactly a class in the US except among film buffs.

I'm surprised the Pitts haven't done a remake. They're certainly vain enough.

Don't know about the film but Noel Coward's play has been redone a few times. IIRC it reached America and was done at the Studio 54 space.

I believe the movie works because the two lead characters are such decent people. Neither are slavering sex fiends or amoral assholes or full of themselves. Solidly middle class, not out to make a big fuss, but boy are they conflicted. We FEEL for them, and wish they could make it happen, though we know ultimately they cannot. It's one of my favorite films.

Did they have briefs in 1947? I would think it would've been boxers only...

Nice balance between romance, tragedy & comedy.

Very well rounded film.

So clearly NOT a DL fave, I see.

VERY CULT film in The UK.

This is another one of those Leonard Maltin 4-star movies that I have always read about but never got around to watching..until a couple of weeks ago on TCM. I don't know about 4 stars, but it is certainly beautifully made, well-written and well-acted, and never boring. On a side note, I was unfamiliar with the score but I kept hearing a few bars that sounded exactly like the song "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen so of course a quick trip to Wikipedia revealed that that pop hit's verse was adapted from Rachmaninoff!

That ending is one of my favorites. So understated and beautifully moving. The husband welcoming his wife back is so incredibly poignant because he knows something's happened, he doesn't know what has happened and has no need to know. Coward could be affected at times but here he's in a perfect balance. And the opening scene at the train station and then the exact same scene from another emotional perspective towards the end is Coward and Lean at their best. Two amazing talents. Joyce Carey is wonderful.

This is one of my favorite movies. Their final goodbye was particularly heart breaking I thought.

I remember reading a couple of years ago, a film critic made the case, that like “Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” , “Brief Encounter” could just as easily been about two gay men at the time.

It's a 1945 film, you twit!

I just watched the Coward film about the dead wife who returns this week. Usually I hate pre-60s films, but Coward films aren’t‘ as heavy going as most. I loved it. The wife even admits to fucking some guy when they were on their honeymoon.

Why do you hate pre-60s films? But you love Blithe Spirit?

This original Brief Encounter is my favorite romantic movie of all time. Curious to know if anyone saw the DeNiro/Streep remake? It wasn't bad but it didn't come close to the original.

Celia Johnson should have won the Oscar for it!

^^ YES! She was superb. I can't stand Trevor Howard but good ol' Ashley was great in that role. I loved that last scene at the train station, when they were interrupted in their 'goodbyes' -- just heartbreaking.

It's a masterpiece. I can't say anymore about than the others. I love it. I watch it every time it is on. You can see this happening to anyone.

^^ Yes. The scenes are so true: Their mutual shame at getting caught at their rendezvous in the friend's apartment. Oh God. And the goodbye at the train station: how many critical conversations have been disrupted by idiotic interruptions? I've had two in my life. And being seen by friends with an unknown companion at lunch? This movie is priceless.

[quote] This is another one of those Leonard Maltin 4-star movies that I have always read about but never got around to watching..

Let’s never forget that Leonard Maltin gave 2.5 stars to 70s sci-fi shitfest Laserblast.

....

^^ Never heard of or saw that one! I know of the DeNiro/Streep version. Thanks!

The DeNiro/Streep version is called Falling in Love. About 1984.

Agree with R6 100%. And I think Trevor Howard is very appealing in this.

There was a really awful TV remake with - get this - Richard Burton & Sophia Loren, both phoning it in.

Haven't seen the DeNiro/Streep version.

R7 Unacceptable! I am a willing ear to any joke to any thread on DL -- but not on this one, sir. Begone!

[quote]Haven't seen the DeNiro/Streep version.

It's like a totally different film.

The late, great British comedienne, Victoria Wood's brilliant send-up of Brief Encounter

R28 OMG! I love Brief Encounter and will entertain no disrespect. But that parody is fucking brilliant!!

R18. , I think you’re confusing Trevor Howard with Leslie Howard. Leslie was dead by the time Brief Encounter was made.

R30 YES, you are so correct.

Harry Enfield also did a spoof but I can only find a brief clip.