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Brief Encounter Movie Review

Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romance film directed by David Lean and starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. It is one of the best romantic movies of all time.

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“It’s awfully easy to lie when you know that you’re trusted implicitly.

So very easy, and so very degrading“

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It is about a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated after a chance meeting at a railway station with a married stranger with whom she subsequently falls in love. Regularly cited as among the greatest British films ever made, Brief Encounter was also nominated for three Oscars, but sadly won none of the three. It is the second best movie of 1945 after ‘The Lost Weekend’.

In cinema emotions are heightened and romances are much more memorable and impactful if they end with heartbreak. Case in point, Brief Encounter and its incredible sad ending that was truly earned in its emotions. This movie set up a formula so potent with a chance and brief encounter and a goodbye scene that it would be replicated many times in the future, most notably in Richard Linklater’s masterful ‘Before Sunrise’.

The acting in this movie is truly sublime. These two performers are quite underrated, but here they showcased great talent and subtlety. Celia Johnson was particularly magnificent as she effortlessly sold all of her conflicting emotions with her paranoid moments being particularly well acted. Just in her eyes you could see so much going on.

Trevor Howard was also terrific in an understated, but still impactful role of the male love interest. The two shared great chemistry together and their scenes were filled with warmth, tension and passion. This movie is very much a two-person story, but it does include some minor appearances from other actors with Joyce Carey being particularly memorable as the delightfully charming waitress. There is also a very annoying woman at the beginning of the movie that was hilariously made fun of in the protagonist’s inner monologue.

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Brief Encounter has that classic beginning is the ending structure that was absolutely superbly utilized here to the greatest effect possible. When you first see that scene in the beginning, you don’t know anything about the movie and what happened to the characters, but later down the line when you encounter it once again you experience so much raw power of the emotions on display. The scene not being repeated but altered in focus was also a brilliant choice from the director.

This is undoubtedly one of David Lean’s greatest directorial achievements. A director most renowned for his historical epics, Lean here showcased that he could do an understated romantic drama just as well as those big-budgeted epics. The editing, pacing and structure of the film are all masterful and so was the cinematography as the movie was shot so gorgeously and competently in order to make the fullest effect in every single sequence.

But the main reason why Brief Encounter works so well and has aged like fine wine lies in its emotions and themes. It is a genuinely touching romance that earns its emotions as we really come to care for the characters. The dialogue is particularly phenomenal throughout. It depicts so realistically how this type of romance can affect those experiencing it, in particular the wife character.

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The movie doesn’t approve of cheating, but it also never vilifies these people. This situation is, thus, just depicted with all the emotions that would be involved and it is up to the viewer to either empathize or criticize these characters. The movie is effortlessly conscious of the characters’ class, morality and family obligations while also depicting just how complex and impactful these socially constrained relationships can be. It’s such a simple, yet beautifully sophisticated and grounded in reality story that will be relevant and/or relatable as long as people engage in romantic relationships.