Brief Encounter

David Lean

 
Brief Encounter (Criterion DVD)

DVD

1 Disc

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price:$31.96

+ Add to Cart
  • United Kingdom
  • 1945
  • 86 minutes
  • Black and White
  • 1.37:1
  • English
  •  
  • Spine #76

SYNOPSIS: After a chance meeting on a train platform, a married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) enter into a muted but passionate, ultimately doomed, love affair. With its evocatively fog-enshrouded setting, swooning Rachmaninoff score, and pair of remarkable performances (Johnson was nominated for an Oscar for her role), David Lean’s film of Noël Coward’s play Still Life deftly explores the thrill, pain, and tenderness of an illicit romance, and has influenced many a cinematic brief encounter since its release.

Cast & CreditsOpen

Cast

Laura JessonCelia Johnson
Dr. Alec HarveyTrevor Howard
Albert GodbyStanley Holloway
Myrtle BagotJoyce Carey
Fred JessonCyril Raymond

Credits

DirectorDavid Lean
ProducerNoël Coward
ScreenplayDavid Lean, Noël Coward and Anthony Havelock-Allan
Based on a play by Noël Coward
EditingJack Harris
CinematographyRobert Krasker
Art directorL.P. Williams
Music directorMuir Mathieson
Piano soloistEileen Joyce

From the CurrentView the Current »

Film Essays

Brief Encounter

By Adrian TurnerJune 26, 2000

Brief Encounter was the fourth and final film that David Lean made in association with Noël Coward. Derived from Still Life, a one-act play which Coward included in the portmanteau Tonight 8:30, the story Read more »


News

From Stage to Screen to Stage

December 04, 2009

Brief Encounter, that eternal model of restraint, is coming out of its shell in a play opening this week in New York. A touring production of the Cornwall-based company Kneehigh Theatre, this Read more »