tom’s fabulous weblog

brief encounter

Matt and I watched Brief Encounter last night. Obviously we’ve been meaning to watch it for ages, and it was great to see it at last because we really enjoyed it.

It reminded us frequently of The Passionate Friends, another David Lean film which we went to see at the NFT a little while back, the subject matter is similar with a woman meeting the fiery love of her youth, rekindling the past and jeopardising the safe affectionate love of her marriage. The main female character also keeps saying “are you heppy?” with exactly the same posh WWII accent.

Brief Encounter is so good! The script is quick and witty, the camera work is beautiful and measured, the railway and small town settings are evocative and interesting. Most of all, the central tension of the film, Laura’s romantic affair that plays havoc with her loyalty to her husband and family, is so deftly laid out and drives the film along with such energy. She’s got this great eloquent internal narration that frames the film, detailing her swings from wild lustful happiness to sudden feelings of deep danger to violent sadness.

It didn’t feel too dated to me either. While it could have been all about a woman trapped by old fashioned moral values of monogamous marriage, it felt to me to be about a woman torn between the excitement of a new relationship and her genuine love for her husband who she doesn’t want to hurt. The dilemma of old and new love and tracing the fine course between them is just as relevant now as then. It did cross my mind that the whole thing could be a allegory for the love that dares not speak its name, especially as it’s Noel Coward’s screenplay.