Essential Art House: Brief Encounter

UPC: 715515056212

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations]

Summary: Based on No?l Coward's play "Still Life," Brief Encounter is a romantic, bittersweet drama about two married people who meet by chance in a London railway station and carry on an intense love affair. Sentimental yet down-to-earth and set in pre-World War II England, the film follows British housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), who is on her way home, but catches a cinder in her eye. By chance, she meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), who removes it for her. The two talk for a few minutes and strike immediate sparks, but they end up catching different trains. However, both return to the station once a week to meet and, as the film progresses, they grow closer, sharing stories, hopes, and fears about their lives, marriages, and children. One day, when Alec's train is late, both become frantic that they will miss each other. When they finally find each other, they realize that they are in love. But what should be a joyous realization is fraught with tragedy, since both care greatly for their families. Howard and Johnson give flawless performances as two practical, married people who find themselves in a situation in which they know they can never be happy. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Grand Prix – Cannes Film Festival Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Actress – New York Film Critics Circle

Essential Art House: Brief Encounter

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/13/2010

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 86 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Essential Art House: Brief Encounter
1. Logos/Opening Credits [1:33]
2. Milford Junction Station [8:54]
3. Laura and Her Family [3:23]
4. Rachmanioff and Recriminations [3:50]
5. "I Happen to Be a Doctor" [1:46]
6. "You Could Never Be Dull" [5:57]
7. "Don't You Feel Guilty?" [1:54]
8. Falling in Love Over Alec's Ideals [6:42]
9. A Close Call [3:40]
10. Love on the Run [3:48]
11. Flames of Passion [6:28]
12. Laura's Fantasies [3:22]
13. A Lie Between Friends [3:51]
14. In Flagrante Delicto [5:04]
15. Saucy Upstart Soldiers [3:19]
16. A Friend's Apartment [3:54]
17. At the War Memorial [3:59]
18. "Could You Really Say Good-Bye?" [3:58]
19. "A Long Way Away..." [9:02]
20. Coming Back [1:30]
21. Color Bars [:00]

Lucia Bozzola

A model of narrative restraint and emotional power, David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945) won over post-war audiences with its fidelity to the ordinariness of its story and ambiance. Through subtle details of character, manner, expression (and a Rachmaninoff score), Lean reveals the profound impact of unexpected passion on the lives of his middle-class, middle-aged couple, despite the final restoration of routine. Praised for its feeling and its realism, including the lack of Hollywood-ized glamour of its stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, Brief Encounter became a rare foreign import hit. Johnson won the New York Film Critics' Circle award for Best Actress, while the film garnered Oscar nominations for Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It was Lean's first great film, and its intimate romanticism reveals the skill at portraying human relationships that would distinguish his later, spectacular epics, such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984). ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Wallace Bosco  Actor 
Edward Hodge  Actor 
Richard Thomas  Actor 
Jack May  Actor 
Avis Scott  Actor 
Nuna Davey  Actor 
Irene Handl  Actor 
Wilfred Babbage  Actor 
Sydney Bromley  Actor 
Noël Coward  Producer 
Noël Coward  Screenwriter 
Anthony Havelock-Allan  Producer 
Anthony Havelock-Allan  Screenwriter 
Coward Lean  Screenwriter 
David Lean  Director 
David Lean  Screenwriter 
Ronald Neame  Producer 
Ronald Neame  Screenwriter 
Celia Johnson  Actor 
Trevor Howard  Actor 
Stanley Holloway  Actor 
Joyce Carey  Actor 
Cyril Raymond  Actor 
Valentine Dyall  Actor 
Everley Gregg  Actor 
Margaret Barton  Actor 
Marjorie Mars  Actor 
Dennis Harkin  Actor 

Country: UK