So thrilled you watched this. And that you loved it. I knew instinctively knew you would - I sensed the romance in your sensibility. In my opinion Brief Encounter is Lean's masterpiece. Most people cite Lawrence of Arabia, or Doctor Zhivago, but for me I find those films overblown, and rather boring. Brief Encounter is a beautifully drawn chamber piece. An intimate love story deeply felt. And I think it's one of the best love stories ever told. So I'm genuinely chuffed that you enjoyed it. Also, you're right about the British doing it better... [spoiler: I'm British ;) ]
Thank you for recommending this! This movie stands as one of my favorites, right next to Pride and Prejudice :) it was so beautifully executed! A true masterpiece :)
@@MoviesWithMia Looking forward to more reactions... you have the opportunity to carve out a niche on your channel. Many people are reacting to populist fare - the usual suspects - Marvel films etc. And I think your enthusiasm for classic storytelling is something that will distinguish your channel - there are people out there that love classic cinema, and want to share in that love with others - and - people who are ripe to discover these films as you are doing. So keep going... make an appointment to watch "The Apartment" at some point.
@@MoviesWithMia Worth noting also: that Noel Coward, the writer, was gay [if you didn't know that already], and at a time in the UK when homosexuality was illegal, and so I think this conflict runs through much of his work - the sense of forbidden love. I have long been fascinated with the scene where Trevor Howard's flatmate gets all frosty on him about his new love, almost as if he's jealous - maybe they had a thing back in the day, or, are having a thing currently. It's a fascinating scene, and I think has much subtext
@@domcoke yes! I read about that while researching this film! To me, Noel Coward is a true artist! He wrote this with so much emotion and experience! When I think of the greats, he’s definitely one of them!
Never feel embarrassed for absorbing older terms into your personal vocabulary - it just means they're now personal to you. It's fun, really; it makes you think about the language a bit more. For instance, I did some research into old 'hardboiled slang' at one point for a story I'm writing, and now I find that, for instance, 'trip for biscuits' has almost entirely replaced 'wild goose chase' in my mind.
I just watched an interesting documentary on this movie with half a dozen critics analysing it, and you know, I think you highlighted every facet that they did... and more succinctly! Well done!
This is months later... mid-October... every time I discover how deep you've gone into the history of great films, I keep thinking, "What an advantage you have!" - over all peer film-fans because, eventually, all film fans dive THIS deep and deeper into entertainment history. Babyboomers had an advantage because it was common to see '30s - '50s films on TV, or on college campuses - even school assemblies or parties. Because all these films were readily available, and TV stations often had blocks of hours unassigned - so they'd play old films. Now we have tons more channels and a greater availability but far less THOUGHTFUL program that rewards "interest in the history of entertainment". You're doing that. Thanks.
@@MoviesWithMia You might want to check out another film with Trevor Howard as a doctor. A brilliant comedy thriller with a star-making performance by a great British actor called Alistair Sim as the most eccentric detective ever. It's called 'Green For Danger'.
One of my favorite complicated love stories is Random Harvest with Ronald Colman and Greet Garson. His voice, oooh. I adore it. And Greer just sparkles.
That's one of my favorites as well and a real tear jerker. From this review, I'm thinking Mia might also appreciate "I Know Where I'm Going" (1945) with Wendy Hiller.
@@cimarronwm9329 IKWIG is a very British rom-com, sort of. Pretty famous, directed by Powell & Pressburger, the same guys who did "Black Narcissus" (1947). Let's see, Wendy Hiller also played Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1938) among other things.
Don't ever let a stranger remove a piece of grit from your eye, you might just fall in love. 💔 Btw, the music is Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto No. 2. An amazing piece of music in its own right but paired with this film has made them both incomparable. Thank you for your lovely reaction.
Oh this was SUCH a great movie! Definitely in my top 5 favorites! It’s free on YT. I HIGHLY recommend if you are in the mood for a beautifully tragic love story!
Right?!? It was such a good film! Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard have such good chemistry! It was well written, well acted, well executed all around!!! So so good indeed!
Mia, "Brief Encounter" is one of the best movies ever made. Thank you for First Timing it with us! Another wonderful movie from the mid-forties that I think you will LOVE is "The Years Between" (1946) with Valerie Hobson, Michael Redgrave, Flora Robson, and James McKechnie. Based on a play by Daphne Du Maurier, it has similarities to "Brief Encounter," plus some twists and turns of its own. The acting is fabulous. Please do that one with us! I envy you watching it for the first time.
Mia I LOVED your reaction to this film. I am 54 years old and I first saw Brief Encounter when I was ten years old by myself at home on tv. I have always been an old soul and at ten years old I understood and completely fell in love with this movie and it has been a favorite of mine that I watch again from time to time. One movie I would love to see you react to (if you haven't seen it already) is Gloria w/Gena Rowlands, a 1980 film directed by John Cassevetes. I think you will really enjoy it.
Thanks for this great reaction - I've just subscribed and am catching up with your videos. Trevor Howard is also great in "The Third man" (1949) which is a movie I would highly recommend to you ( it was voted "best British movie ever made" by the BFI). I think you could do a great reaction to that! Thanks again for the excellent videos.
I appreciate your comments about B&W. It feels more romantic to me as a film style. We know this isn’t reality because it’s not “realistic” at all in the way it looks. This film takes full advantage of those qualities.
Good for you for choosing such a mature movie. I'm not someone who usually searches out love stories to watch, but this one blew me away. Not many 40's movies make you think and reflect like this one.
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard would work together again in "Staying On" in 1980. Johnson was married to Peter Fleming, the older brother of Ian, the creator of James Bond. Peter was famous long before then (his *Brazilian Adventure* came out in 1933; Ian's *Casino Royale* was published in 1953), but nowadays, he's probably remembered if at all only as Ian's brother, cellist Amaryllis's half-brother and Johnson's husband.. Sic transit gloria mundi...
Thank you for sharing your impressions with us as you saw the movie. I wholeheartedly agree with you. This is really a great movie and the saddest love story. And no one is bad, really, not even the nosy and loud friends she encounters. Love is a strange thing that happens to very few people. I cannot even say they are lucky people, because sometimes love brings so much suffering.
this is my absolute favourite romantic film ever! I can't think of a better film about love. When I watched Carol and saw the touch on the shoulder, I melted.
I love to see people watching this one, it's one of my favourites 😊 not sure how many British classics you've watched but I would highly recommend Kind hearts and coronets, The ladykillers and Fallen idol 😊
Brief Encounter is without a doubt my favorite movie. I’ve watched it so many times. I agree with everything that you said about this movie. It conjured up exactly the same thoughts and feelings that you expressed. You are so young yet you understand the social and moral aspects of that time period. I thoroughly enjoyed your commentary.
i have recently gotten to your channel and spent the entire just spitting recommendations at you on your forum page. I think you're love for classic cinema is rare and a gem for you to further explore. I hope you find a happiness in it that i have myself. Thank you so much for making me feel not so alone in finding these such a treasure
Hi 👋🏽 Thank you for watching! This was definitely one of my favs!! Yes! I have Rebecca on the schedule for our Hitchcock month!!! Thank you for recommending :)
Great video of Mía with her great commentary on David Lean's masterpiece. Brief Encounter 1945. For me one of the best David Lean films and one of the best in the history of cinema. Film that I have seen countless times, it is a modest film not like the other great productions of David Lean, but it is a film that is priceless even the great director Billy Wilder took ideas from this film for his masterpiece The Apartment 1960, for the scene that a friend of the protagonist lends him his apartment. The truth is that the performances of Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard are truly unrepeatable in the history of cinema. As Mía says in her video, it is a movie worth watching.
Just watched this yesterday at a local theater showing old classics paired with movie commentary from a local film scholar & critic. That Dutch angle pan right at the climax took my breath away. The commenter said Dir. Lean liked to make his movies “lean” 😂
Trevor was an actor's actor so flexible by doing drama (this one of many), to high adventure as Captain Bligh in "Mutiny on the Bounty", to side-splitting comedies like "Father Goose".
"Father Goose" is another one of my favorites. Although it features a rom-com pairing of Cary Grant and Leslie Caron, some have commented that the real highlight is the bromance between Grant and Trevor Howard.
Hello Mia. Please consider reviewing "Now, Voyager" (1942), which centers on psychoanalysis (relatively new for its day). Bette Davis (Charlotte Vale) shows how analysis, at its best and most effective, could change the world for one individual. I greatly enjoy your reviews and reactions and thanks for taking my suggestion under consideration.
Hi 👋🏽 Thank you for your recommendation! I will add it to the list! I have been meaning to watch a Bette Davis film for a while now because I always hear great things about her work! Also thank you for watching :)
For all who enjoyed the sumptuous music, it was recorded, with lyrics,, by many singers, and became a popular ballad(due to this film) in the 40's, 50's and 60's, entitled: Full Moon and Empty Arms. The lyrics are captivating and suit the music very well. I love when classical music is "updated" and used in venues quite different from what they were originally written for.
Love the film, went hunting for it when Anne Bancroft watched it in '84 Charing Cross Road.' Do NOT stop "using the lingo!" Love to run across someone who'd use a term from a fave old film! Probably scare em, and give chase to talk some more!😱 😂 Totally agree about the B&W vs. Color in some films. B&W is...coffee and hot chocolate with the steam curling up. Color is...wine with corks popping and soda--pop, fizz and bubbles. Color's great and here to stay but B&W is ...Comfort Food that grandma made. Okay...need to shut up now 🙄 Great review, Mia 😊
Lean made another wonderful film about thwarted romance a few years later called The Passionate Friends, which I think is quite undervalued. Also, if you haven't already seen Billy Wilder's The Apartment, it was partly inspired by Brief Encounter, as Wilder imagined a story about the man who lends his home for his friend's romantic liaisons. I'd highly recommend both films to you. It's great to see a UA-cam reactor exploring this classic era of cinema and making such great discoveries.
Thank you for your recommendation :) I have heard of The Passionate Friends! In fact Claude Rains is in that film and I think he did such a wonderful job in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington! Thank you for recommending this! And yeah I am definitely going to have to check out The Apartment! It came up in my research and I saw that a few other people recommended it! So I’ll add it to my list :) thank you so much for watching :)
It's a beautiful film that only grows moreso the older one gets- David Lean making love look as epic as the Sahara desert.......it was transformed into a brilliant stage play about 15 years ago by the now closed KneeHigh Theatre of Cornwall, UK. There are still youtube clips of the stage version hanging around, check it out- they made it look like a train came onto the stage!!!! The would-be lovers swung from chandeliers!!!
When I saw the title, I knew I'd seen this movie within the last year, but I couldn't remember it, so thanks for the review. And I'm really glad that you reviewed a romance... I've been waiting for this so I can recommend a couple of companion films in the same genre (I hope you don't get tired of my recommendations.... most of my friends couldn't care less). Anyway, the two films I'm thinking of were both made in the early 60s, which I normally associate with Technicolor, but these were both done in absolutely jawdroppingly stunning black and white, and there are HD copies available on youtube now (which is the only way to see films that are done as well as these were). Both are romances, but neither is the typical warm fuzzy type of romance, which is what makes them good companion pieces. The first is Two for the Seesaw with a very young Shirley MacLaine and Robert Mitchum. The split screen images were done so seamlessly, that at first, I was wondering if they lived in the same building. Both actors gave amazing performances, and the story is just so heartbreaking and yet beautiful, not to mention it's just visually captivating. The second film, directed by Anatole Litvak and strarring Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins and Yves Saint Laurent, is Goodbye Again, and is a melancholy film filled with hope and an all too predictable end (but only predictable once the film is almost over... so I won't give it away). It's a love triangle... Ingrid and Yves are in a long term open relationship, although he's the only one who seems to take advantage of that openness, and she is devoted to him. Enter Anthony Perkins, a much younger man who falls head over heels for her... at first she resists but then gives in to his boyish charm. And then... ??? This film has so many cute moments and well as moments of grim reality. It really blew me away. If you watch both of these film on the same, day, you might be overwhelmed. BTW, I disagree with the commenter who said Doctor Zhivago is boring. It is hands down my favorite film of all time, in my opinion, the most beautiful film ever made, in terms of visuals (although it's in color, and you seem to be focusing on B&W, which is why I haven't mentioned it), music, and story. Set against the backdrop of the Russian revolution, it also gives some valuable insights into a people that we don't often have the opportunity to learn much about. So, I don't know if it would fit in with your reviews, but definitely a must see. I watch it often, and after seeing it once, I could immediately start it up and watch it all over again, that's how good it is.
Hi kruuyai 😊 I never get tired of your recommendations! Thank you so much for watching my videos and recommending! I will add your recommendations to my list. And I also have heard that Doctor Zhivago is a wonderful film and I do really want to see that :)
Brings to mind *Tea and Sympathy* cut my teeth on b/w movies, my most favorite... Thanks to my mom, she was a movie buff, knew every star, and much about them. She used to tell us stuff that fairly recently has been made public. How she knew, I have no idea.
New subscriber here. I agree with your assessment of this film. My wife always told me I am the only man she ever knew who loved war films and romantic dramas in equal doses. "Brief Encounter" is one of my favourites along with "Magnificent Obsession" (1954) although the latter has a happier ending. Might I recommend you do a review on it?
The writing is sublime. I live close to where this was filmed and carnforth station is pretty much still the same. Little brief encounter cafe there now.
@@MoviesWithMia just type in carnforth station. Brief encounter. A few present day vids on you tube. Best wishes. I love celia. Jimmy Stewart too but platonically 😀
@@MoviesWithMia Excellent. I have just retired after 40yr driving trains. Driven 100.s of trains through there. It was my late mum's fave film. I watched it after she passed away. Very emotional but I think it helped me get the grief out. Fine now. 15yr ago now.
Love this movie. So nice to see someone else fall for it too 😊 Have you seen ‘When tomorrow comes’ 1939 with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer? I think you’d like it.
Yes! This movie is definitely in my top 5 favs!! I have not seen “When tomorrow comes” but it sounds intriguing! I will definitely give it a look! Thank you for recommending :)
Great reaction Mia to a very good and emotional movie. The score is a classical concert for piano and orchestra by Sergey Rachmaninoff. Very beautiful and romantic.
The music was from a Russian composer called Rachmaninov and was dedicated to a Doctor Who helps him recover from his depression, after critics, panned his 2nd symphony. It’s one of the greatest pieces of classical music ever composed.
This is one of my favorite English accents because it sounds so proper and royal! I also really like the Yorkshire accent! I know it may be an unpopular opinion, but there is an edginess to the Yorkshire accent that really makes me love it 😊!
I have never heard of this film, but I recognized the director’s name in the description as the man who would direct the legendary epic Lawrence of Arabia.
OH! I didn't realize that David Lean directed Lawrence of Arabia! That is awesome! I have that movie on my schedule! I have heard a LOT of great things about it!
goodbye mr chips robert dunat. the browning version micheal redgrave. the music lovers; great expectations john miles loads of really good british movies out there
I think he didn’t react to her “date” because he didn’t see her as attractive to other men. People certainly did have affairs back then, yet her husband was so comfortable and oblivious in their marriage. Like you, I went through a period where I watched old classic, black and white films and I find them more subtle and better written. I’m loving your enthusiasm, sense of aesthetics, and articulate reaction. You deserve many more subscribers!
@@MoviesWithMia Touch of Evil had the longest opening scene, a massive pan and uncut. It is fabulous, and has Gregory Peck Orson Wells and Janet Leigh.
One film i would recommend is the film "Green for Danger" which has a straight acting Trevor Howard with a very funny Alastair Sim which is a dark comedy. Along with Alistair is Leo Genn and Sally Grey . One of my favourite films of all time is "The Happiest Days of Your Life" with Alastair again with the wonderful Margaret Rutherford in a classic comedy. You may also consider "An Inspector Calls" .
As a newcomer to your channel, I'm having great fun working through your back catalogue! Thank you for the perfect reaction to what is, essentially, a perfect film. Some commentators say that, like films noirs, 'Brief Encounter' operated ideologically, to rein in female sexuality, which had got a bit 'out of hand' during wartime! Also, considering who wrote the source material, you can easily read a subtext of forbidden gay love, which, obviously, could not be openly treated in movies at the time.
If you want to react to a classic British romance film very similar to 'Brief Encounter', I'd highly recommend 'A Matter Of Life And Death'. It was made a year after this film, and it may just be the greatest romantic drama of all time (it's certainly one of the most subversive).
I think I've mentioned this to you before but I'm not sure, so here goes (?again?). There is a movie from 1959 that I believe you'd enjoy that stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins, and Fred Astaire (in one of his few non-dancing roles). The film is "On The Beach" and it deals with the aftermath of a nuclear war and the imminent obliteration of mankind from the planet. Not exactly light-hearted fare, but a very powerful movie.
i remember hearing that this film was produced or paid for by the british government, as a sort of public address for all the wartime wives that were having affairs while they hadnt seen their husbands for years. it was was a very grown up and mature message for the british government to give, it didnt mock or disregard all those womens eelings, it said yes you may have found real love, but you are married, its time to do the right thing, its sad and its painful but you have to do the right thing now and stop this
"Are you cold?" "Not really." "Are you alright?" "Not really." I become an emotional wreck watching some of these Classics. I don't know how you keep from crying. Or maybe you edit that out?
He knew. The husband knew. The music? Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No2, a very beautiful and challenging piece, one of the most beautiful ever written. And it is challenging. A movie about this music, Rach 3 in this case, that broke a person: Shine. Another fantastic film. Some other suggestions: A Matter Of Life And Death (also called Stairway to Heaven in the US), To Kill a Mockingbird, Roman Holiday (both Gregory Peck, and the latter with the inestimable Audrey Hepburn), Nixon, One Flew Over the Cuckoio's Nest, Lincoln, There Will be Blood...
I saw this movie on hbo max along with another I want to recommend because they were both fantastic. “The Lady Vanishes “ it’s from 1938 blk n white. It has more than how it’s described. If it’s not on hbo max still u can find by typing the title followed by full movie on UA-cam
By the way... I don't know if this would get a vote in my similar poll ("Saddest Love Story") but it's a fantastic film. I love it because it uses Not The Hottest Actors but really a buncha supporting character actors. And proves that, with these great actors, they can deliver an outstanding film with an outstanding script.
I think I usually vote ROMAN HOLIDAY as my own nominee for "Saddest Love Story". I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING is considered but, naw, it's not The Saddest at all. It's rather joyful, in fact.
I grew up with old black and white movies, that and reading constantly, so I speak archaic fluently. I completely understand you picking up the language. It's fun, but you may get some strange looks. I've been considered weird my whole life.
watched your reaction to A Brief Encounter! Just wanted to say, I totally agree - I'm from the US, but the British do it better! I LOVE this film! AND I love The Crown! Have you watched any British period piece films like Pride & Prejudice (2005) or Sense & Sensibility? They are soooo good! Also, if you loved A Brief Encounter, try "Brooklyn" (2015) w/ Saoirse Ronan. I think you will love it!💗😄
One of the best Love stories ever made...written by a Gay man! By the way, the railway station used in the film...is still there and looks exactly the same as it did 80 years ago.
Love stories (sad) "Random Harvest" with Ronald Colman and "Tomorrow is Forever" with Orsen Welles and maybe "King's Row" with Ronald Reagan (yes that Reagan).
So thrilled you watched this. And that you loved it. I knew instinctively knew you would - I sensed the romance in your sensibility. In my opinion Brief Encounter is Lean's masterpiece. Most people cite Lawrence of Arabia, or Doctor Zhivago, but for me I find those films overblown, and rather boring. Brief Encounter is a beautifully drawn chamber piece. An intimate love story deeply felt. And I think it's one of the best love stories ever told. So I'm genuinely chuffed that you enjoyed it. Also, you're right about the British doing it better... [spoiler: I'm British ;) ]
Thank you for recommending this! This movie stands as one of my favorites, right next to Pride and Prejudice :) it was so beautifully executed! A true masterpiece :)
@@MoviesWithMia Looking forward to more reactions... you have the opportunity to carve out a niche on your channel. Many people are reacting to populist fare - the usual suspects - Marvel films etc. And I think your enthusiasm for classic storytelling is something that will distinguish your channel - there are people out there that love classic cinema, and want to share in that love with others - and - people who are ripe to discover these films as you are doing. So keep going... make an appointment to watch "The Apartment" at some point.
@@MoviesWithMia Worth noting also: that Noel Coward, the writer, was gay [if you didn't know that already], and at a time in the UK when homosexuality was illegal, and so I think this conflict runs through much of his work - the sense of forbidden love. I have long been fascinated with the scene where Trevor Howard's flatmate gets all frosty on him about his new love, almost as if he's jealous - maybe they had a thing back in the day, or, are having a thing currently. It's a fascinating scene, and I think has much subtext
@@domcoke yes! I read about that while researching this film! To me, Noel Coward is a true artist! He wrote this with so much emotion and experience! When I think of the greats, he’s definitely one of them!
@Randy White Yep, they are. Dull as dogshit.
My grandad was station master at the station where the movie was filmed. Carnforth in Lancashire
I love this movie so much. The farewell scene breaks my heart in so many ways I can't even elaborate on that.
Indeed
Bridges of Madison County vibes . I cry at the end every single time.
I've seen this a million times and I still cried when the music swelled at the end
Never feel embarrassed for absorbing older terms into your personal vocabulary - it just means they're now personal to you. It's fun, really; it makes you think about the language a bit more. For instance, I did some research into old 'hardboiled slang' at one point for a story I'm writing, and now I find that, for instance, 'trip for biscuits' has almost entirely replaced 'wild goose chase' in my mind.
I just watched an interesting documentary on this movie with half a dozen critics analysing it, and you know, I think you highlighted every facet that they did... and more succinctly! Well done!
This is months later... mid-October... every time I discover how deep you've gone into the history of great films, I keep thinking, "What an advantage you have!" - over all peer film-fans because, eventually, all film fans dive THIS deep and deeper into entertainment history. Babyboomers had an advantage because it was common to see '30s - '50s films on TV, or on college campuses - even school assemblies or parties. Because all these films were readily available, and TV stations often had blocks of hours unassigned - so they'd play old films. Now we have tons more channels and a greater availability but far less THOUGHTFUL program that rewards "interest in the history of entertainment". You're doing that. Thanks.
Very true
13:40 “The British do it better…”
Noel Coward writing/producing, David Lean directing, plus a top cast…
in 1945, this was Britain’s best!
One of the absolute greats. Celia Johnson' gives the best suffering-with-impeccable-diction performance ever.
One of my favourite Celia Johnson films is This Happy Breed, a British film about a family between WW1 and WW2; also by David Lean
Oh I will definitely have to check that one out! Celia Johnson was FABULOUS in Brief Encounter!
@@MoviesWithMia You might want to check out another film with Trevor Howard as a doctor. A brilliant comedy thriller with a star-making performance by a great British actor called Alistair Sim as the most eccentric detective ever. It's called 'Green For Danger'.
One of my favorite complicated love stories is Random Harvest with Ronald Colman and Greet Garson. His voice, oooh. I adore it. And Greer just sparkles.
I will definitely add that to the list :)
That's one of my favorites as well and a real tear jerker. From this review, I'm thinking Mia might also appreciate "I Know Where I'm Going" (1945) with Wendy Hiller.
That is a film I 'm not familiar with. I must find it and view it. I do love Random Harvest.
@@cimarronwm9329 IKWIG is a very British rom-com, sort of. Pretty famous, directed by Powell & Pressburger, the same guys who did "Black Narcissus" (1947). Let's see, Wendy Hiller also played Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1938) among other things.
I found it through Amazon Prime. I enjoyed the ceilidh. Silly stubborn woman getting in a boat in that weather.
It is the BEST british movie ever made
Maybe among the best. It's all IMO . For me it's the Third Man.
"The Passionate Friends" is also a beautifully done British film, with Anne Todd and Trevor Howard.
I love this movie too....the final line " thank you for coming back to me " always gets me.
Holy crap this is the kind of content I wanna see!
Also Panther Panchali and They Live By Night for a Ray/Ray double feature!
I am glad to hear it! Thank you for watching! Also, thanks for the follow on Instagram :)
Will definitely check those out! Thank you for recommending :)
Don't ever let a stranger remove a piece of grit from your eye, you might just fall in love. 💔 Btw, the music is Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto No. 2. An amazing piece of music in its own right but paired with this film has made them both incomparable. Thank you for your lovely reaction.
Say the words, Brief Encounter, I begin to weep.
I've never seen this movie. But did watch this reaction. I need to watch in full now. Thanks so much for your wonderful reactions.
Oh this was SUCH a great movie! Definitely in my top 5 favorites! It’s free on YT. I HIGHLY recommend if you are in the mood for a beautifully tragic love story!
@@MoviesWithMia Thank you. I will check it out this weekend.
Ok, I watched in full yesterday. So, so good. I really loved it!
Right?!? It was such a good film! Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard have such good chemistry! It was well written, well acted, well executed all around!!! So so good indeed!
Mia, "Brief Encounter" is one of the best movies ever made. Thank you for First Timing it with us! Another wonderful movie from the mid-forties that I think you will LOVE is "The Years Between" (1946) with Valerie Hobson, Michael Redgrave, Flora Robson, and James McKechnie. Based on a play by Daphne Du Maurier, it has similarities to "Brief Encounter," plus some twists and turns of its own. The acting is fabulous. Please do that one with us! I envy you watching it for the first time.
The ending always makes me cry. "Thank you for coming back to me"
a magical move that all film buffs should see. a must see. so so good.
Mia I LOVED your reaction to this film. I am 54 years old and I first saw Brief Encounter when I was ten years old by myself at home on tv. I have always been an old soul and at ten years old I understood and completely fell in love with this movie and it has been a favorite of mine that I watch again from time to time. One movie I would love to see you react to (if you haven't seen it already) is Gloria w/Gena Rowlands, a 1980 film directed by John Cassevetes. I think you will really enjoy it.
Thanks for this great reaction - I've just subscribed and am catching up with your videos. Trevor Howard is also great in "The Third man" (1949) which is a movie I would highly recommend to you ( it was voted "best British movie ever made" by the BFI). I think you could do a great reaction to that! Thanks again for the excellent videos.
Yes!!! I have The Third Man on the schedule for our Film Noir month!!! I cannot wait to watch it!!! Thank you for recommending it :)
I appreciate your comments about B&W. It feels more romantic to me as a film style. We know this isn’t reality because it’s not “realistic” at all in the way it looks. This film takes full advantage of those qualities.
Yeah for sure! I feel like it made the movie almost dreamlike.
Good for you for choosing such a mature movie. I'm not someone who usually searches out love stories to watch, but this one blew me away. Not many 40's movies make you think and reflect like this one.
I like your intelligent and honest response in this reaction.
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard would work together again in "Staying On" in 1980.
Johnson was married to Peter Fleming, the older brother of Ian, the creator of James Bond. Peter was famous long before then (his *Brazilian Adventure* came out in 1933; Ian's *Casino Royale* was published in 1953), but nowadays, he's probably remembered if at all only as Ian's brother, cellist Amaryllis's half-brother and Johnson's husband..
Sic transit gloria mundi...
Thank you for sharing your impressions with us as you saw the movie. I wholeheartedly agree with you. This is really a great movie and the saddest love story. And no one is bad, really, not even the nosy and loud friends she encounters. Love is a strange thing that happens to very few people. I cannot even say they are lucky people, because sometimes love brings so much suffering.
this is my absolute favourite romantic film ever! I can't think of a better film about love. When I watched Carol and saw the touch on the shoulder, I melted.
I love to see people watching this one, it's one of my favourites 😊 not sure how many British classics you've watched but I would highly recommend Kind hearts and coronets, The ladykillers and Fallen idol 😊
Brief Encounter is without a doubt my favorite movie. I’ve watched it so many times. I agree with everything that you said about this movie. It conjured up exactly the same thoughts and feelings that you expressed. You are so young yet you understand the social and moral aspects of that time period. I thoroughly enjoyed your commentary.
i have recently gotten to your channel and spent the entire just spitting recommendations at you on your forum page. I think you're love for classic cinema is rare and a gem for you to further explore. I hope you find a happiness in it that i have myself. Thank you so much for making me feel not so alone in finding these such a treasure
i love your commentary on this!! my favourite film of all time ❤️ i'd definitely recommend rebecca (1940) which also happens to be my namesake!! 🥰
Hi 👋🏽 Thank you for watching! This was definitely one of my favs!! Yes! I have Rebecca on the schedule for our Hitchcock month!!! Thank you for recommending :)
Great video of Mía with her great commentary on David Lean's masterpiece.
Brief Encounter 1945.
For me one of the best David Lean films and one of the best in the history of cinema.
Film that I have seen countless times, it is a modest film not like the other great productions of David Lean, but it is a film that is priceless even the great director Billy Wilder took ideas from this film for his masterpiece The Apartment 1960, for the scene that a friend of the protagonist lends him his apartment.
The truth is that the performances of Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard are truly unrepeatable in the history of cinema.
As Mía says in her video, it is a movie worth watching.
I couldn't agree with you more! This was absolutely one of my favorite movies!
@@MoviesWithMia Thanks for your answer Mia, Brief Encounter 1945, is also one of my favorite movies and it was one of my father's favorite movies too.
Oh wow! I love that 😊 how wonderful that you shared a love for this movie with your father :)
Oh, that's an amazing movie!
I'm loving your atention to classic movies.
Yes! This movie is in my top 5 favorites for sure!! Thank you for watching :)
Really enjoyed you watching this, such a classic. The score is the first movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto :-)
Thank you so much! And that score was so beautiful and so perfect for the film!
Have actually visited Carnforth railway station, near Lancaster where the film was shot and they have a large display dedicated to the film.
Just watched this yesterday at a local theater showing old classics paired with movie commentary from a local film scholar & critic. That Dutch angle pan right at the climax took my breath away. The commenter said Dir. Lean liked to make his movies “lean” 😂
This is one of my all time favorite movies. So moving and romantic and the best movie ever made about "impossible" love.
A wonderful British film.
Trevor was an actor's actor so flexible by doing drama (this one of many), to high adventure as Captain Bligh in "Mutiny on the Bounty", to side-splitting comedies like "Father Goose".
I’ll definitely have to watch his other films! He is such a great actor!
Trevor Howard is also in the Third Man along with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten!
No way!!! That is AWESOME! I love Trevor Howard! I have the Third Man on the schedule for Film Noir month! Can’t wait to watch it!
"Father Goose" is another one of my favorites. Although it features a rom-com pairing of Cary Grant and Leslie Caron, some have commented that the real highlight is the bromance between Grant and Trevor Howard.
For a great old British B&W romance movie, I would totally recommend "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with Rex Harrison.
Thank you for your recommendation :) I will definitely put that on the list!
That one's not actually British (filmed in California). But it feels British.
@@paintedjaguar True. But you could swear it came from Pinewood studios.
For Rex Harrison, a ghost and written by Noel Coward......i highly recommend 'Blithe Spirit'.
Hello Mia. Please consider reviewing "Now, Voyager" (1942), which centers on psychoanalysis (relatively new for its day). Bette Davis (Charlotte Vale) shows how analysis, at its best and most effective, could change the world for one individual. I greatly enjoy your reviews and reactions and thanks for taking my suggestion under consideration.
Hi 👋🏽 Thank you for your recommendation! I will add it to the list! I have been meaning to watch a Bette Davis film for a while now because I always hear great things about her work! Also thank you for watching :)
I loved listening to your thoughts on this movie.
Omg a reaction to one of my favorites movies!!! Thank you!
For all who enjoyed the sumptuous music, it was recorded, with lyrics,, by many singers, and became a popular ballad(due to this film) in the 40's, 50's and 60's, entitled: Full Moon and Empty Arms. The lyrics are captivating and suit the music very well. I love when classical music is "updated" and used in venues quite different from what they were originally written for.
Love the film, went hunting for it when Anne Bancroft watched it in '84 Charing Cross Road.' Do NOT stop "using the lingo!" Love to run across someone who'd use a term from a fave old film! Probably scare em, and give chase to talk some more!😱 😂
Totally agree about the B&W vs. Color in some films. B&W is...coffee and hot chocolate with the steam curling up. Color is...wine with corks popping and soda--pop, fizz and bubbles. Color's great and here to stay but B&W is ...Comfort Food that grandma made. Okay...need to shut up now 🙄
Great review, Mia 😊
Lean made another wonderful film about thwarted romance a few years later called The Passionate Friends, which I think is quite undervalued. Also, if you haven't already seen Billy Wilder's The Apartment, it was partly inspired by Brief Encounter, as Wilder imagined a story about the man who lends his home for his friend's romantic liaisons. I'd highly recommend both films to you. It's great to see a UA-cam reactor exploring this classic era of cinema and making such great discoveries.
Thank you for your recommendation :) I have heard of The Passionate Friends! In fact Claude Rains is in that film and I think he did such a wonderful job in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington! Thank you for recommending this! And yeah I am definitely going to have to check out The Apartment! It came up in my research and I saw that a few other people recommended it! So I’ll add it to my list :) thank you so much for watching :)
It's a beautiful film that only grows moreso the older one gets- David Lean making love look as epic as the Sahara desert.......it was transformed into a brilliant stage play about 15 years ago by the now closed KneeHigh Theatre of Cornwall, UK. There are still youtube clips of the stage version hanging around, check it out- they made it look like a train came onto the stage!!!! The would-be lovers swung from chandeliers!!!
The score is a classical piece, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto Number 2. The melody was also used in the Eric Carmen's 1975 pop tune "All By Myself."
I just watched, it was SO GOOD!
Oh yeah! Definitely a top 10 for me!
When I saw the title, I knew I'd seen this movie within the last year, but I couldn't remember it, so thanks for the review. And I'm really glad that you reviewed a romance... I've been waiting for this so I can recommend a couple of companion films in the same genre (I hope you don't get tired of my recommendations.... most of my friends couldn't care less). Anyway, the two films I'm thinking of were both made in the early 60s, which I normally associate with Technicolor, but these were both done in absolutely jawdroppingly stunning black and white, and there are HD copies available on youtube now (which is the only way to see films that are done as well as these were). Both are romances, but neither is the typical warm fuzzy type of romance, which is what makes them good companion pieces. The first is Two for the Seesaw with a very young Shirley MacLaine and Robert Mitchum. The split screen images were done so seamlessly, that at first, I was wondering if they lived in the same building. Both actors gave amazing performances, and the story is just so heartbreaking and yet beautiful, not to mention it's just visually captivating. The second film, directed by Anatole Litvak and strarring Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins and Yves Saint Laurent, is Goodbye Again, and is a melancholy film filled with hope and an all too predictable end (but only predictable once the film is almost over... so I won't give it away). It's a love triangle... Ingrid and Yves are in a long term open relationship, although he's the only one who seems to take advantage of that openness, and she is devoted to him. Enter Anthony Perkins, a much younger man who falls head over heels for her... at first she resists but then gives in to his boyish charm. And then... ??? This film has so many cute moments and well as moments of grim reality. It really blew me away. If you watch both of these film on the same, day, you might be overwhelmed. BTW, I disagree with the commenter who said Doctor Zhivago is boring. It is hands down my favorite film of all time, in my opinion, the most beautiful film ever made, in terms of visuals (although it's in color, and you seem to be focusing on B&W, which is why I haven't mentioned it), music, and story. Set against the backdrop of the Russian revolution, it also gives some valuable insights into a people that we don't often have the opportunity to learn much about. So, I don't know if it would fit in with your reviews, but definitely a must see. I watch it often, and after seeing it once, I could immediately start it up and watch it all over again, that's how good it is.
Hi kruuyai 😊 I never get tired of your recommendations! Thank you so much for watching my videos and recommending! I will add your recommendations to my list. And I also have heard that Doctor Zhivago is a wonderful film and I do really want to see that :)
Brings to mind *Tea and Sympathy* cut my teeth on b/w movies, my most favorite... Thanks to my mom, she was a movie buff, knew every star, and much about them. She used to tell us stuff that fairly recently has been made public. How she knew, I have no idea.
New subscriber here. I agree with your assessment of this film. My wife always told me I am the only man she ever knew who loved war films and romantic dramas in equal doses. "Brief Encounter" is one of my favourites along with "Magnificent Obsession" (1954) although the latter has a happier ending. Might I recommend you do a review on it?
The writing is sublime. I live close to where this was filmed and carnforth station is pretty much still the same. Little brief encounter cafe there now.
That is SO COOL! I would love to visit Carnforth Station someday! This movie has, thus far, been my favorite that I have reacted to on this channel!
@@MoviesWithMia just type in carnforth station. Brief encounter. A few present day vids on you tube. Best wishes. I love celia. Jimmy Stewart too but platonically 😀
OMG! Just looked up pictures on Carnforth station! I REALLY want to visit now! It looks the same still!!
@@MoviesWithMia Excellent. I have just retired after 40yr driving trains. Driven 100.s of trains through there. It was my late mum's fave film. I watched it after she passed away. Very emotional but I think it helped me get the grief out. Fine now. 15yr ago now.
Type in. All the stations. Episode 39. Just watch last 5 minutes. Bit of fun. You tube
Great movie 🍿,it’s soo beautiful 🥺
Absolutely could not agree more with you :)
Love this movie. So nice to see someone else fall for it too 😊
Have you seen ‘When tomorrow comes’ 1939 with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer? I think you’d like it.
Yes! This movie is definitely in my top 5 favs!! I have not seen “When tomorrow comes” but it sounds intriguing! I will definitely give it a look! Thank you for recommending :)
wonderful film
Beautiful Lady. Enjoyed. Review.
Great reaction Mia to a very good and emotional movie. The score is a classical concert for piano and orchestra by Sergey Rachmaninoff. Very beautiful and romantic.
The music was from a Russian composer called Rachmaninov and was dedicated to a Doctor Who helps him recover from his depression, after critics, panned his 2nd symphony. It’s one of the greatest pieces of classical music ever composed.
I live in the same county as Carnforth station and that station clock is still there.
The intro is from Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto which is featured throughout the film
The accent you are hearing is known as “RP,” short for “Received Pronunciation.”
This is one of my favorite English accents because it sounds so proper and royal! I also really like the Yorkshire accent! I know it may be an unpopular opinion, but there is an edginess to the Yorkshire accent that really makes me love it 😊!
I have never heard of this film, but I recognized the director’s name in the description as the man who would direct the legendary epic Lawrence of Arabia.
OH! I didn't realize that David Lean directed Lawrence of Arabia! That is awesome! I have that movie on my schedule! I have heard a LOT of great things about it!
@@MoviesWithMia That is one of those films that is a pinnacle of art!
Ooh! I can’t wait to watch it!!
@@MoviesWithMia just know with intermission and everything it is 228 minutes long. Which is just slightly longer than The Ten Commandments.
Good 21st century points about a movie made in 1945. It is amazing how this film can still reach an audience over 75 years later.
goodbye mr chips robert dunat. the browning version micheal redgrave. the music lovers; great expectations john miles loads of really good british movies out there
I think he didn’t react to her “date” because he didn’t see her as attractive to other men. People certainly did have affairs back then, yet her husband was so comfortable and oblivious in their marriage. Like you, I went through a period where I watched old classic, black and white films and I find them more subtle and better written. I’m loving your enthusiasm, sense of aesthetics, and articulate reaction. You deserve many more subscribers!
Thank you so much :) and thank you so much for watching and commenting :)
Totally agree
Try "How Green Was My Valley," and "Touch Of Evil."
I will put them on the list :) Thank you for your recommendation:)
@@MoviesWithMia Touch of Evil had the longest opening scene, a massive pan and uncut. It is fabulous, and has Gregory Peck Orson Wells and Janet Leigh.
One film i would recommend is the film "Green for Danger" which has a straight acting Trevor Howard with a very funny Alastair Sim which is a dark comedy. Along with Alistair is Leo Genn and Sally Grey . One of my favourite films of all time is "The Happiest Days of Your Life" with Alastair again with the wonderful Margaret Rutherford in a classic comedy. You may also consider "An Inspector Calls" .
Two great must-watches to go along side this are David Lean's Summertime and Doctor Zhivago - could be a David Lean trains & love story trilogy
I like it! Yeah I really want to watch Doctor Zhivago! I fell in love with Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia! Thank you for your recommendations!
@@MoviesWithMia yes, please watch Dr Zhivago: "I am the only free man on this train. The rest of you are CATTLE!"
As a newcomer to your channel, I'm having great fun working through your back catalogue! Thank you for the perfect reaction to what is, essentially, a perfect film. Some commentators say that, like films noirs, 'Brief Encounter' operated ideologically, to rein in female sexuality, which had got a bit 'out of hand' during wartime! Also, considering who wrote the source material, you can easily read a subtext of forbidden gay love, which, obviously, could not be openly treated in movies at the time.
If you want to react to a classic British romance film very similar to 'Brief Encounter', I'd highly recommend 'A Matter Of Life And Death'. It was made a year after this film, and it may just be the greatest romantic drama of all time (it's certainly one of the most subversive).
I think I've mentioned this to you before but I'm not sure, so here goes (?again?). There is a movie from 1959 that I believe you'd enjoy that stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins, and Fred Astaire (in one of his few non-dancing roles). The film is "On The Beach" and it deals with the aftermath of a nuclear war and the imminent obliteration of mankind from the planet. Not exactly light-hearted fare, but a very powerful movie.
i remember hearing that this film was produced or paid for by the british government, as a sort of public address for all the wartime wives that were having affairs while they hadnt seen their husbands for years. it was was a very grown up and mature message for the british government to give, it didnt mock or disregard all those womens eelings, it said yes you may have found real love, but you are married, its time to do the right thing, its sad and its painful but you have to do the right thing now and stop this
"Are you cold?"
"Not really."
"Are you alright?"
"Not really."
I become an emotional wreck watching some of these Classics. I don't know how you keep from crying. Or maybe you edit that out?
He knew. The husband knew. The music? Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No2, a very beautiful and challenging piece, one of the most beautiful ever written. And it is challenging. A movie about this music, Rach 3 in this case, that broke a person: Shine. Another fantastic film.
Some other suggestions: A Matter Of Life And Death (also called Stairway to Heaven in the US), To Kill a Mockingbird, Roman Holiday (both Gregory Peck, and the latter with the inestimable Audrey Hepburn), Nixon, One Flew Over the Cuckoio's Nest, Lincoln, There Will be Blood...
Hobson's Choice 1954. And "Fedora"1977
Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 is irresistible. A great choice for the score.
I saw this movie on hbo max along with another I want to recommend because they were both fantastic. “The Lady Vanishes “ it’s from 1938 blk n white. It has more than how it’s described. If it’s not on hbo max still u can find by typing the title followed by full movie on UA-cam
By the way... I don't know if this would get a vote in my similar poll ("Saddest Love Story") but it's a fantastic film. I love it because it uses Not The Hottest Actors but really a buncha supporting character actors. And proves that, with these great actors, they can deliver an outstanding film with an outstanding script.
I think I usually vote ROMAN HOLIDAY as my own nominee for "Saddest Love Story". I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING is considered but, naw, it's not The Saddest at all. It's rather joyful, in fact.
I grew up with old black and white movies, that and reading constantly, so I speak archaic fluently. I completely understand you picking up the language. It's fun, but you may get some strange looks. I've been considered weird my whole life.
Haha! Yes! I love it! The lingo of that time was so rich!
I know what you mean by using terms from old movies. I think I got my wise**s responses from old movie banter.
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR and the Orson Welles' JANE EYRE should be next on your
"romantic film" list.
Mia: Another David Lean “brief encounter” love story I recommend is ‘Summertime’ (1955).
watched your reaction to A Brief Encounter! Just wanted to say, I totally agree - I'm from the US, but the British do it better! I LOVE this film! AND I love The Crown! Have you watched any British period piece films like Pride & Prejudice (2005) or Sense & Sensibility? They are soooo good! Also, if you loved A Brief Encounter, try "Brooklyn" (2015) w/ Saoirse Ronan. I think you will love it!💗😄
One of the best Love stories ever made...written by a Gay man!
By the way, the railway station used in the film...is still there and looks exactly the same as it did 80 years ago.
Try 'Whistle down the wind' 1961 classic
Love stories (sad) "Random Harvest" with Ronald Colman and "Tomorrow is Forever" with Orsen Welles and maybe "King's Row" with Ronald Reagan (yes that Reagan).
I tell people who are learning how to develop of characters on paper to watch this film.
Beautiful review of one of my favourite films. If you like David Lean and forbidden romance, look no further than Dr Zhivago, my all time N° 1 film
Please, try watching Random Harvest, is just as sad, romantic and british as this one.
Have you ever seen “All About Eve”? Just found this channel.
Yes! It was really great!
I'm waiting for you twitch Dr. Zhivago.
In 1945 England black and white film was cheaper than colour. It wasn't until the 60's that black and white was faded out in favour of colour
I actually Brief Encounter the same day Will Smith slapped Chris Rock before it even happened.
a more working class romance , also by david lean , is hobsons choice....exceptional ,although a light comedy
the score and the movies is classic Rachmaninov, how about watching the music lovers glenda jackson another classic
Love You much Mia but you skipped The Most Important moment of the while film. The handkerchief moment. 😢😢