BRIEF ENCOUNTER Review: Why it's a CLASSIC! - WFP
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- Опубліковано 4 сер 2021
- A review of Brief Encounter, the David Lean-Noel Coward Art House romance favorite with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. Brief Encounter is often ranked in the top 100 British movies of all time - find out why. Music: Bensound.com.
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I love the ending on this film where the lovely husband realises something is wrong and he says 'Thank you for coming back to me' I tear up every time on that, I'm afraid I was never keen on Trevor Howard so I'm glad she saw sense.
Oh, that's probably because you first saw Trevor in all those gruff military roles in the 60s, lol! I think he cut rather a ruggedly dashing figure in the 1940s in BE and even The Third Man.
Just watched it 2 weeks ago. Wow! What a brilliant film. The story transcends time. Funny, sad, charming & short. One of the best black & white movies ever made. Good on every level.
Thanks for writing. These have been trying times in the world and it is nice to give focus to something so brilliant and beautiful. Two questions, was this the first time you saw it and, if so, how did you choose to watch it?
Walt65 It was the first time ever watched. I’m 58 yo male going on 16. A good friend messaged me at 11pm said they were watching it & that it was frightfully British. It was on BBC TV & iplayer free to air streaming. Looked like it has been restored because the quality was superb on my 50” kitchen TV. Watched the first 2/3rds then watched the final 1/3rd the next morning. Utterly perfect. Loved the supporting cast & the historical context too.
Noel Coward, David Lean, top notch Englishmen.
Have you covered Powell & Pressburgers 1947 Black Narcissus yet. That is one beautiful film.
From a time when my Britain was still a great, proud nation 🇬🇧
@@volt7cooltangs701 Hi. I have seen Black Narcissus but I'm not sure when I will get to it. It is clear the greatest viewer interest is in WW II or spy films so I try to "give them what they want" - though I also do films like Brief Encounter, Lavender Hill Mob, Remains of the Day and Great Expectations as I don't want this to just be the "war channel". I'm a bit older than you but I know what you mean about "going on 16".
It is a great film, actually one of the best ever made. I read somewhere that Celia Johnson was the first non-American actress to be nominated for the Oscar (Maybe it's true).
And Rachmaninoff's music suits the movie so well.
This is the kind of intelligent film for adults that you rarely see today. Strangely, I felt the same recently watching the comedy City Slickers - at least this movie was made for people over 16 with some experience in the world.
Agree !!!!! This movie was exceptional on many fronts.
My favorite romance. I fell in love with Trevor Howard in this film. He was great as a romantic lead in his early films.
Great post - he was even dashing in the Third Man even though he didn't have a love interest. And then he became so great in cranky officer parts by the 60s.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews He was great in early British Noirs (Green for Danger, They Made Me a Fugitive, Clouded Yellow, Golden Salamander) and I always found him very sexy. He was great at being cranky and he was wonderful when he was cranky in a comedy (Father Goose, Sir Henry at Rawlison End, The Missionary).
@@rowley555 You have superb taste - from Father Goose to Green for Danger (what an eccentric film that is with wonderful Alistair Sim such an odd investigator.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews Alistair Sim was wonderfuL He's my favorite Scrooge.
A few more facts on this title. Brief Encounter was nominated for 3 Academy Awards - Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Director. Also, Richard Burton and Sophia Loren were featured in a remake in the 1970s.
Robert Sherwood won best screenplay and Billy Wyler won best director for another classic, "The Best Years of our Lives", while Olivia de Havilland won best actress for "To Each His Own".
@@RobKristjansson Thanks, Rob. Hard to criticize "Best Years of our Lives" for winning - that was a great film and truly spoke to Americans, and others, as they dealt with demobilization and the "cruel realities" of peacetime.
Also, part of me can't help thinking this would make an interesting double bill with Mrs. Miniver.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews Maybe it isn't nice, but at least it's not galling to see a great picture get beaten out by a worthy winner
Oh, you're absolutely right. And the Oscars are - or used to be fun - but most of the time when it comes to saying something is definitely "better" than something else, I increasingly agree with George C. Scott when he walked away from the award for Patton (Dick Nixon's favorite movie!)
Celia Johnson went on to play another memorable if smaller role as the straight-laced principal of an Edinburgh private girls' school who clashes with a flamboyant teacher played by Maggie Smith in 1969's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", for which Smith won her first Oscar.
Love this movie! I've watched it over 10 times, characters are brilliant. Thank you for calling Celia an actress. I think it is beautiful to call a woman an actress, and I don't understand why many women want to call themselves 'actor' like men. All because of one self-righteous comment by Whoopi?
I guess it is individual preference, whatever the woman wants that is fine. It ain't that deep bro
The problem is life has likely deceived you to believe this is the perfect person because of the relentless responsibilities one must accumulate. This is the only movie which has affirmed that one’s responsibility to others is what creates meaning so to abandon one’s life for something unknown could truly be the wrong choice.
Yes. In life there is often "something new" coming around the corner - but where does that lead to?
Recently come across your channel and you seem to have the same taste in movies as me. Interestingly enough I now live about 4 miles away from Carnforth station in Lancashire, England where Brief Encounter was filmed. I love David Lean’s films, but my favourite film is perhaps his most atypical, Hobson’s Choice. I wonder if you could review this movie if you are familiar with it. Many thanks and keep up with the good work.
Thanks. I know I saw this Charles Laughton classic years ago and probably need to revisit it.
I haven’t seen Brief Encounter but that’s a failing I will need to correct, this review has encouraged me to fix that omission.
I have a hard time thinking of Trevor Howard as a romantic lead, I’ve only ever seen him in military type roles or as a solid representative of the Establishment so this will be a change.
I cannot overemphasis how highly I think of David Lean. The sheer scope of Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago is breathtaking so it’ll be interesting to see how he manages within the tighter confines of a play.
All told I’m looking forward to seeing the film because of this review, thanks!
Thank you so very much - great to know people are discovering movies - not just revisiting favourites - due to the channel. You must also see his Oliver Twist and Great Expectations which are amazing to behold (I'd start with Oliver T).
Good one. Keep 'em coming. I wonder if this has made the rounds of TCM lately.
Thanks. I don't recall TCM showing Brief Encounter a lot though every decent library service should have it. The fact it is on Criterion certainly helps.
Amazing review for an amazing film.
Thank you so much - this kind of feedback tells me I need to get back to making more videos.
Excellent review it helps for this fan that this movie is a poignant heartfelt masterpiece
I stumbled on it and was impressed by your review and the fact that you listed it. Elvira Madigan is the only other doomed romance movie that relates well to this master work
There's nothing so achingly hard to watch as a doomed love story. Appreciate your feedback. You may want to see my review for Remains of the Day, which has its own strange relationship vibe.
It’s ironic but things that pan out are not memorable whereas tragic romance is. The movie touches on another universal idea that sometimes you meet the right person at the wrong time or when it’s too late
@@tomcramer8504 Absolutely. Most of us have one or two (or more?) what-if relationships that drift back into memory at times.
Looking forward to watching this one!
You will enjoy it - just get ready for that downbeat Rachmaninoff!
One thing I should have mentioned in my video is that Trevor Howard channels a bit of Leslie Howard in his performance; I could have seen this role going to Leslie had he survived the war.
You might eventually get to This Happy Breed, which is episodic but touching as we follow the ups and downs of a family 1919-39. It has a young John Mills and Robert Newton - so creepy in Oliver Twist and known for over-acting as Long John Silver - gets to be normal as a dad.
Thanks for introduce us a nice classic .
Very happy to do so. Thanks.
Good review!
Very much appreciated.
I love how they did the right thing at the end of this movie. I wish our movies today had themes of sacrifice/duty over “if it feels good, do it” mentality. That’s why our society is so messed up today. People are self centered and proud of it. Children are taught by Disney to “follow your heart”, but should we? After all the Bible (rightfully) says..,”The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
A relationship built on a such a (adulterous) foundation would never stand in the long run. Think of all the many lives this relationship would’ve destroyed if it were consummated. And often, the fall out from selfishness by the parents affect many future generations to their detriment 😞.
Hello, somebody knows if this movie is in the public domain? I wanted to use a part of the dialogues in a song.
I don't think so. I got a warning for using a film clip.
@@Vlad65WFPReviews could you tell me who warned you? Do you have the name of the firm?
@@rocknrollnights It was a copyright claim from ITV.
It is not. It won't be until at least 2061, 70 years after the death of David Lean. Although it could be longer than that still if the estate of someone else involved (the composer, for example) who died later claims it.
This Happy Breed ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wonderful little film. I tracked it down after doing the Brief Encounter critique. Nice to see a very young John Mills and very interesting to see Robert Newton playing a down-to-earth normal person instead of Bill Sykes or scenery-chewing Long John Silver. I will add this title to growing to-do list although my next opus will be A Bridge Too Far - which is yielding some interesting surprises in my research.
Have you done Hobson’s Choice?
@@darrenhoskins8382 Not yet. Generally my viewers prefer historical subjects so I tend to do more of those. You can access my home page by clicking on my Union Jack icon under the video screen. Here are all my videos: ua-cam.com/users/Vlad65WFPReviewsvideos
I read Billy Wilder used this basis for “The Apartment “ with men using a friend’s apartment for their rendezvous which even in the 50s was considered “taboo “!
Thanks, I had not heard that. It strikes me that while not as "adult" or "liberal" as say, the French or Italian cinemas, English films and TV of the 50s-60s-70s were less puritanical in depicting issues about morals, sex and violence than Hollywood. Things didn't really begin to start changing in American films until around 1967 with movies like Bonnie and Clyde and the Graduate. And I know the levels of sexuality and violence in series such as The Sweeney or Minder was far more than American series of the day.
I am a total fanatic of this film and watch it more than once a year. Your comments differ than my view of the movie but when it comes to matters of the heart, this is indeed how it should be. Celia Johnson's performance is outstanding and its more character driven so I tend to wonder if this is unusual for the time i.e for a female actress to be almost the main focus of the camera.. Perhaps we should see this as a war film i.e. about duty and self sacrifice, but are they really right for each other as you imply? After all, her sense of propriety would never have put them in this position while he rather intrudes on her carefree day away from home, beginning with going to the pictures as we oldies once called it. In another site it was suggested that perhaps Alec may have done this before i.e swanned into womens lives while greatly upsetting their equilibrium. Did you notice the alarm in her face when he first crosses the line? Of course they got on well and all that, but was her life so dull that she needed this diversion from it, or to have chap to insinuate himself into her happy routine?
Very thoughtful comments. Of course people might speculate that Alec has "done this before" but there is certainly nothing in the movie that shows him as a predator or manipulator - and this aspect would really change the tone and message of the story. As it stands, Brief Encounter delves into that murky question "what would you do if you met a really appealing person once you've married and settled down?" Such a new partnering will inevitably have the buzz of fresh excitement which inevitably wanes in any relationship. From the way the story is presented it is about each being tempted by the promise of something new - and how they (especially Celia) cope with that temptation.
And it was somewhat unusual for a film to focus on an "everyday" female character at that time, such films did exist - from Mrs Miniver to anything with Bette Davis or Joan Crawford.