Customer Reviews

Brief Encounter (Faber Classic Screenplay Series)

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Move over Kate and Leo! Why go all the way to the Titanic when all the really interesting English romances occur at the Milford railway junction? "Brief Encounter" was simply meant to be a small art house film but instead it struck a certain chord in both England and America. Written by Noel Coward ("Mad Dogs and Englishmen") and directed by David Lean ("Doctor Zhivago," "Lawrence of Arabia"), the film represents the ascetic, upright, emotionally restrained lives of the people living in pre-WWII Britain (1938-1939). It concerns the doomed love affair between a married, suburban housewife, Laura, and an equally suburban and married doctor, Alec. Unlike "Madame Bovary," both characters hold no illusions: they know that they are middle-aged and unimpressive people, unable to be drawn to the extremes of emotion enough to defy society. It is a story of two undistinguished, but unhappy people who found each other but could not have each other. With its simple plot, drab setting, but intricate dialogue, it was honored with an Oscar nomination in 1947. If you just cannot refuse an art film, a classic film, or a foreign film, this screenplay deserves more than just a brief encounter.

The basic story is of a brief encounter between two people at a train station in post-war Britain. Each were married to someone else, and committed to different lives. They fall in love; but it is a hopeless situation. How will they resolve this? Will they resolve this? What would you do in the situation?

The movie is enhanced by reading the Screen play. You will pick up details that were just implied in the movie. Also the background introduction by Sheridan Morley gives you information on how the short play that was part of a series became a classic movie. The book contains stills of the movie. You'll find the screen play just as emotional as the movie however you will have to supply your own copy of Rachmaninoff's Concerto no. 2 in C minor.