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Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945]
 
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Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945]

DVD ~ Celia Johnson
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
RRP: £15.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945] + Casablanca [1942] [DVD] + Some Like It Hot - Special Edition [DVD] [1959]
Total RRP: £48.97
Price For All Three: £20.44

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945]
48% buy the item featured on this page:
Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945] 4.1 out of 5 stars (27)
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Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945]
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Brief Encounter [DVD] [1945] 4.1 out of 5 stars (7)
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Product details

  • Actors: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
  • Directors: David Lean
  • Writers: David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Noel Coward, Ronald Neame
  • Producers: Anthony Havelock-Allan, Noel Coward, Ronald Neame
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: ITV DVD
  • DVD Release Date: 19 Feb 2001
  • Run Time: 107 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000056MKW
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,624 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Expanded from a one-act stage play by Noel Coward, Brief Encounter is without doubt one of the true masterpieces of British film history. The story seems slight--a respectable suburban housewife has a chance meeting with a handsome married doctor, their friendship becomes romance, but they feel the pressures of convention pulling their relationship apart--but the writing, acting and direction are sublime, turning what might have been just another melodrama into a memorable and heartbreaking story of impossible love. David Lean went on to make much bigger films than this, but few of those epics packed the emotional punch of this picture, set in a mundane world of railway stations, semi-detached houses and inexpensive cafes. Trevor Howard is perfectly cast as Alec, the doctor, but the film belongs above all to Celia Johnson, as the heroine Laura. It's easy to mock her clipped ultra-English accent, but she gives one of the greatest screen performances imaginable, brilliantly evoking how an ordinary life can be turned upside down by unexpected passion. Throw in the superb use of Rachmaninov's swooning Second Piano Concerto, shrewd supporting acting from Cyril Raymond, Joyce Carey and Everley Gregg, and some of the best black-and-white photography of its era, and the result is irresistible. Anyone who isn't besotted with Brief Encounter has either never been in love, or doesn't deserve to be. --Andy Medhurst

Synopsis

Brief Encounter tells the poignant tale of ordinary people caught up in the extraordinary power of love. Based on a Noel Coward play, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay.

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
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 (16)
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 (6)
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Sigh of Midnight Trains in Empty Stations, 13 Mar 2007
By David R. Bishop "Bishbaby" (Plymouth, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This is my favorite British film of all time. Brilliant writing, fine acting, ecconomicaly concise production and inspired direction all combine to make a landmark movie and a defining moment in social history.

Celia Johnson is terrific! She is talented and beautiful. More than girlishly pretty, she has the deep resonant beauty of a full grown woman. Her eyes are huge and so expressive, as she copes with the guilt and sordidness of an extra-marital love. She narrates to move the story along in places. Her performance draws you in and holds you. A lesser actress could not have pulled it off so well.

Trevor Howard plays her illicit love. Their screen chemistry is electric. Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey provide a light sub-plot, which compliments the main story.

The film was released in the Spring of 1945, just as World War 2 was ending in Europe. Whether on purpose or not, the film announced a return to peacetime morality. Speak to an old person who was there, and you will find out that all sorts went on during the war when couples were separated, and there was horrific stress.

The characters fall in love, but their love remains unrequited. Love is allowed, but the heart is not allowed to rule the head. The film is set in an unspecified time of peace with no blackout, no bombsites, and with cakes and chocolate freely available. There is a 'forward to the past' kind of message.

If you've never seen it, you are in for a rare treat. If you haven't seen it for a while, then it is well worth revisiting. My review title is a line from a Noel Coward type song. I thought it fitted since he wrote the screenplay, and the main setting is a railway station.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the most moving romance ever filmed, 15 Jun 2005
It is easy to see why this film is one of the most known romance films ever made, first of all the tear inducing performances of the British ensemble, second the almost essential black and white noir wartime lighting, and thirdly the music that is now synonymous with the film and romance. For those of you who do not wish to read on the film is a simple tale of a woman torn between loyalty to her husband and an exciting affair. The film uses the great performances to personalise us with the main character and have to make the same decisions she does, while using a looped narrative to bring the story to a conclusion as we interpret the feelings of the woman in the first scene.

David Lean worked with Noel Coward to produce this cinematic masterpiece from the stage to live forever in the great history of British film. The direction is constant and reliable with effective close ups and steady paced editing throughout. The effect of this is that we recognise the feelings of the characters and always feel somehow depressed throughout the film to personalise us with the main character, there is little heart pumping adrenaline in the film. The down beat mood is backed up by the thriller film signifiers of rainy streets, undesirable locations and dark noir lighting. One of the first shots in the film contains chiaroscuro lighting as the camera looks down the station at the incoming train, this shot is masterfully placed at this point as if to say that the outside world is so different to the world within the train station, the world that the main character would love to escape but knows she cannot. Most of the film is shot in the small cafe in the station where the main character played by Celia Johnson first falls in love with Trevor Howard. Celia Johnson steals the show as the main character with her heartwrenchinly sad interpretation of a woman torn between loyalty to her family and an exciting affair associated with the outside world. We are in her shoes as the main character by the constant account from her viewpoint, not a single scene in the film isn't from her perspective or narrated with her voice and in this way we have to make her decisions and feel just as sad as she does. The film does not use a linear narrative as about 10 mins into the film we see the flashback of the events of the past few weeks barely interrupted and continuing to near the end of the film. The film makes a complete loop and we end up back where we started, in the cafe, finally understanding the feelings of the main character, the narrative enigma set out in the first scene. The music in the film is entirely one piece, Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto, a piece which I can never listen to without thinking of the film. In fact the sound is positioned so perfectly in the film to suit the moods that particular sections in the piece remind me of exact points in the film, I found this even after seeing the film only once. The music is one of the most perfect examples of a single soundtrack in a film.

I find that one needs to see the film three times in a reasonable period to fully appreciate the use of the camera and the moral struggle of a woman in so much pain but the brilliance of this simple love story will repay a lifetime of viewings as it lives on as one of the best examples of British romance in cinema.

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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Film Ever, 24 Sep 2002
By Mara Kurtz (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Brief Encounter [VHS] [1945] (VHS Tape)
This absolutely delightful film seems to get better every time I see it.
The recent DVD version is especially enjoyable as you can see so many subtle details that were hidden in the shadows of video on a grainy tv monitor.
The acting is superb, the script tight and poignant with not a wasted moment. Every word and gesture have significance. The cinematography is spectacular with exquisite lighting throughout this black and white masterpiece. The very beautiful opening shot of the train tearing through Carnforth station, whistle shrieking, sets the tone perfectly.
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard will break your heart, as will the soundtrack, with marvelous Eileen Joyce playing Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto.
This is the quintessential Brit film loved by all. David Lean and Noel Coward, a brilliant combination, working together brilliantly at the end of World War II.
"Brief Encounter" is an experience I to which I treat myself frequently. It is always a joy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars The worst David Lean film I've seen
I decided to watch this movie on account of being a huge fan of David Lean. I find that his Dickens adaptations have aged incredibly well, but this is not at all the case for this... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. L. J. Taylor

4.0 out of 5 stars Very much of its time
A beautiful love story between two married people who encounter a chance meeting at a railway station. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Norman Cheeseworthy

5.0 out of 5 stars Brief Encounter - A Classic Love Story
Ceila Johnson (Laura Jesson)and Trevor Howard (Dr Alec Harvey)play two happily married strangers who are thrown together by fate. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Flojo Squire

4.0 out of 5 stars A Devon Villager's Perspective
Film Review - Brief Encounter - Littleham Village Hall - Saturday 4th
November 2008 at 1930
Last night was good, there was lots of bonhomie but mixed feelings about... Read more
Published 8 months ago by David M. Hogan

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Irritating
Am I the only person who wants to give that woman a slap? She's got a nice husband, two healthy children and far too much time on her hands. Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. W. Berry

1.0 out of 5 stars You get it or you don't . . .
. . . and I didn't. Yes, I know, it gets all the plaudits, and continually features in favourite film lists, but my wife and I found it exceedingly tedious, and the acting both... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. C. Jones

4.0 out of 5 stars Honour, duty, love
This is certainly an interesting view of the past. Amazing accents, strange attitudes to honour and duty, smouldering passion and eccentric approaches to hygiene (dropped some... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Neil Weightman

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest movies of all time!

Certainly one of the greatest movies ever made! 'Brief Encounter' is the story of two people - a man and a woman who fall in love after a chance meeting. Read more
Published 18 months ago by FAMOUS NAME

4.0 out of 5 stars Frightfully, frightfully of its time
**Very mild spoiler in last line**
Surprisingly, this was quite an affecting film. I say surprisingly, because there was little to connect the average viewer to the context... Read more
Published 19 months ago by P. Hankinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Serves me right
Before watching I was familiar with Brief Encounter through the endless parodies of stiff-upper-lip and tremendously-clipped love, and I sat down to watch it for laughs. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2006 by B. ODonnell

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