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Brief Encounter

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03:02

Brief Encounter

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• Romance
• Drama

• 1945
• David Lean
• 83 mins
• PG

Summary

Classic romantic drama starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. A chance meeting in a suburban railway station brings together Laura Jesson, a happily married woman, and Dr Alec Harvey who is also married. They fall in love, but their secret happiness is marred by the furtive way they must carry on the affair and the realisation that eventually a choice must be made.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Co-adapted by Noël Coward from his own one-act play Still Life, this is one of the finest films ever made in Britain. What makes the illicit love between doctor Trevor Howard and housewife Celia Johnson so memorable is their sheer ordinariness - they really could be anybody sitting in the dark of the cinema or in the comfort of their armchair. That's why Falling in Love, the unofficial Hollywood remake, fell so flat - Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep simply weren't ordinary enough. Romancing to the strains of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, the leads are outstanding, but credit should also go to the forgotten Cyril Raymond, whose decent dullness as Johnson's husband makes those stolen Thursdays seem so special.

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8.0/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameLaura JessonCelia JohnsonDr Alec HarveyTrevor HowardFred JessonCyril RaymondAlbert GodbyStanley HollowayMyrtle BagotJoyce CareyDolly MessiterEverley GreggBeryl WatersMargaret BartonStanleyDennis HarkinStephen LynnValentine DyallMary NortonMarjorie MarsOrganistIrene Handl

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Crew

rolenameDirectorDavid Lean

Details

Theatrical distributor

Park Circus

Released on

2015-11-06

Languages

English | French

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Black and white

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