Brief Encounter

(update of a previous post - original is here)



Data
Title: Brief Encounter
Year: 1945 (UK), 1946 (US)
Length: 86 minutes
Director: David Lean
Writers: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean & Ronald Neame, based on a play by Noel Coward
Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard
Music: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress (Johnson) (1947); currently #216 on the IMDb's Top 250



My reaction
Synopsis: an ordinary mother/housewife imagines telling her husband about a man she fell in love with
How I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Concept: Good.
Story: Great.
Characters: Great. The depth and realism of the characters in this movie is remarkable. Take the scene where she lies to her husband – something you see on just about every episode of every bad sitcom, not to mention almost every “romantic” movie ever made; this movie is probably the only time it feels as gut-wrenching as it should.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Good.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Good.
Acting: Great.
Music: Great. I don’t care for Rachmaninoff, but it's a lot better than your typical film score. And they use the music cleverly: what’s on the radio while she’s “telling” the story is the flashback’s score.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites). One of the best things a movie can do is to give you a look inside someone, and I don't know of any movie that does that more convincingly than this.
Objective Rating: 3.7/4 3.8/4 (Great).